"Sinaloa, think of Chapo, Chapo Guzmn and his kids, Mayo Zambada. After a few days of the state elections of June 6, a war in the Golden Triangle, which is made up of a new cartel that entered the area and is contesting the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. However, recently smaller gangs have begun to target the Choneros and the organization has also fallen subject to the phenomenon of infighting within the gang and its derivative groups. Revealed: how Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has created a global network to rule the fentanyl trade. This week, InSight Crimes Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become embroiled in a series of violent turf wars. [25] Both the CDS and CJNG have also recently began to participate directly in cocaine production in Colombia, not only to buy, but also to invest in production directly through other criminal organizations. As of 2013, the Sinaloa Cartel continued to dominate the Sonora-Arizona corridor, which extends for nearly 375 miles. One of the first to traffic marijuana in bulk was Pedro Aviles, who later brought his friend's son, Joaqun Guzmn Loera, alias "El Chapo," into the business. [6] The cartel's attempts to control the Chicago drug market have brought them into direct conflict with other Chicago gangs, including the Black P. Stones, Vice Lords, and Black Disciples, resulting in an increase in violence in the city. [citation needed] As of November 2022, the Chapitos and Zambada factions are rumored to have reconciled their recent differences in order to come together to battle the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. News outlets in Mexico are reporting contradictory stories about whether the Jalisco and Sinaloa Cartels are friends, enemies or something in between. Preserving the ongoing viability of the Sinaloa Cartel by kidnaping, torturing and murdering those determined to be enemies of the Sinaloa Cartel, disloyal to the Sinaloa Cartel, or those who lose . This eventually led to Ramn Arellano Flix killing two of Guzmn's associates thus leading to a full-fledged war between the two organizations. According to the Sedena he is the assumed assassin of activist Nepomuceno Moreno Nez, which occurred 28 November 2011. Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox. The CDS is also battling La Linea teamed with the CJNG in Ciudad Juarez. by Luis Chaparro March 10, 2022, 5:58pm Mexican drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin " El Chapo " Guzman, was arrested, unleashing a violent backlash by gang gunmen on Thursday that shut the airport in . It was around this period in the early 1990s when Guzmn gave more control of the cartel to freelance trafficker Ismael Zambada Garca (a.k.a. The Gangster Disciples are one of the local gangs most actively working with the cartel. It has successfully penetrated government and security forces wherever it operates. Led by notorious drug lord Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn until his capture in 2016, the cartel has developed into one of the most powerful drug trafficking cartels in the world. Working closely with the Honduran Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros, the men came into contact with Colombia's Medelln Cartel. Mayo's traditional major distribution hubs were allegedly in Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Denver. [180][181][182] Evidence that runs counter to a mistake theory is that Posadas did not look anything like Guzmn, he was wearing a long black cassock and a large pectoral cross, and he was gunned down from only two feet away. [68] The cartel has reportedly responded to this phenomenon of mass overdose deaths in the U.S. by making multicolored fentanyl pills (so as not to be confused with real oxycodone pills which are typically blue) as well as multicolored fentanyl powder so that it isn't accidentally (or intentionally) mixed in with other white substances like cocaine, according to Business Insider and other sources who interviewed operatives from the cartel. 1. [98] However, during the second wave of America's opioid epidemic in the mid-2010s, which was driven largely by heroin; the prevalence and trafficking of fentanyl began to increase exponentially leading to the third wave and eventually turning into the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. The cartel publicly announced its arrival in October 2015, with a narcocorrido song and a Facebook message entitled "Sinaloa is now in Colima". [170] Another report detailed numerous indications of corruption and influence that the cartel has within the Mexican government. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers them to be "the biggest, most powerful drug cartel of all time". [130] As prior drug tunnels, it crossed under the U.S.-Mexico border into a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego with the capacity to move multi-ton loads of narcotics. The Tijuana Cartel responded by trying to assassinate El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport in 1993, killing a Mexican cardinal instead. El Mayo was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for El Chapo after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001. However, the days of big cartels in Mexico may be numbered. Such information ensured Loya-Castro was immune from prosecution while also keeping the DEA concentrated on Sinaloa's rivals and away from their leadership. The cartel's most powerful contacts have traditionally been in the National Action Party (Partido Accin Nacional - PAN), which, according to some sources, helps account for its growth in the last decade. "We have 20 'El Chapos' here." [9][86] The war between the Sinaloa and Tijuana cartels was supposedly at its worst from 1992 to the year 2000 with family members of some of the cartel's leaders living in fear or everyday like it was their last, as stated by Zambada's wife at the time. In January 2017, El Chapo was extradited to the United States. In the latter part of the 1970s, the various families branched into moving cocaine for Colombian and Central American traffickers, and shifted their operations to Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco. Sinaloa cartel has two new enemies in Chihuahua. After declaring war on their rivals including old masters in El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel the cartel began a hostile takeover of Mexico's drug industry. The Sinaloa Cartel is not a hierarchical structure. One of these cartels (called plazas at the time) was Sinaloa, with the city of Culiacn acting as its headquarters. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. The Sinaloa cartel "has fought brutally for increased control of routes through the border states of Chihuahua and Baja California, with the goal of remaining the dominant drug trafficking . Along with the captured suspects, 16 assault rifles, 3 grenades, 102 magazines and 3,543 rounds of ammunition were seized. [159][160], On 25 February 2009, the U.S. government announced the arrest of 750 members of the Sinaloa Cartel across the U.S. in Operation Xcellerator. Formed in about 2010, the Jalisco cartel is the strongest and most aggressive competitor to the Sinaloa. Canadians in Mexico's northwest are being advised to take extra care amid an outbreak of violence following the arrest of Sinaloa drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin . [146] Murders by the cartel often involve beheadings or bodies dissolved in vats of alkali and are sometimes filmed and posted on the Internet as a warning to rival gangs. It's cheap to produce since it is entirely synthetic and can be clandestinely manufactured since unlike marijuana, opium/heroin and coca; it requires no farming, cultivation, sunlight or irrigation. In this case, he recalled, the payout to . El Cholo formed his own gang, the "Nueva Plaza Cartel," financially supported by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of CJNG's biggest enemies. [45], In retaliation, the Tijuana Cartel attempted to set up Guzmn at Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993. A soldier near a truck torched by members of a drug gang in Mazatlan after of Ovidio Guzman's . [citation needed] The organization has also been known to utilize narcosubmarines, boats, ships, trains, helicopters, and cargo planes for their smuggling operations. On 11 July 2015 "El Chapo" escaped from a maximum security prison, which is his second successful jailbreak from a maximum security facility in 14 years. [102] These are likely the same five departments in Colombia in which the CDS and CJNG rivalry has been detected, which has reportedly led to the displacement of thousands of Colombian citizens just in early 2021. [58][84][15] Following the discovery of a tunnel system used to smuggle drugs across the Mexican/US border, the group has been associated with such means of trafficking. LOS ZETAS CARTEL Founded: 1999 Originally part of: Gulf Cartel Allies: Beltrn-Leyva Cartel, Jurez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel Enemies: Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La Familia Cartel PRESENCE Controls over 11 states, the Zetas have the largest territory in Mexico Also, Zetas have a presence in the U.S.A. & Guatemala WANTED "EL LAZCA" OR . The cartel's current leader, Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, is public enemy number one in both Mexico and the United States. Since 2011 they have evolved to become one of the Ecuador's fiercest prison gangs due to the leader being incarcerated for nearly 8 years. The group has expanded rapidly . Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [citation needed] The Sinaloa Cartel was therefore believed to be linked to the Jurez Cartel in a strategic alliance following the partnership of their rivals, the Gulf Cartel and Tijuana Cartel. [45], As of 2014, it is believed that the Tijuana Cartel, or at least a sizable majority of it, has been either absorbed or forced to ally with the Sinaloa Federation, in part due to a former high-ranking Tijuana member called Eduardo Teodoro Garcia Simental, alias "El Teo" or "Tres Letras" allying with the Federation.[183][184][185]. Vi ctims were seen with their hands above their heads . An inside look at Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. In December 2016, one month prior Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn Loera's extradition to the U.S.,[140] two "super tunnels", one in operation while the other was under construction, were discovered by Mexican agents adjacent to the Tijuana airport/Ejido Tampico and the Otay Mesa border crossing. El Chapo's capture and later extradition to the United States appears to have sparked an internal battle for control of the organization, as evidenced by a February 2017 attack against El Mayo and two of El Chapo's sons that was reportedly orchestrated by El Chapo's one-time right-hand man, Dmaso Lpez Nez, alias "Licenciado.". The Sinaloa Cartel seems to have taken its cue from Colombia's Cali Cartel by establishing strong connections to Mexico's political and economic elite. In March 2015, BBC TV programme This World broadcast an episode entitled "Secrets of Mexico's Drug War"[177] which reported on the US government's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Operation Fast and Furious which had allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal buyers acting on behalf of Mexican drug cartel leaders, in particular the Sinaloa Cartel. [203][199] An unnamed Mexican official confirmed that the meeting helped authorities locate Guzmn,[204] with cell phone interceptions and information from American authorities[203] directing Mexican Marines to a ranch near Tamazula, Durango, in the Sierra Madre mountains in western Mexico. However, the cartel also often acts more like a federation than a tightly knit organization. [82][83][85][1], During this time, Sinaloa was considered to be at a major disadvantage since they were forced to move much of their drug product through the Tijuana corridor, which often put them directly into conflict with the Arellanos. By the early 21st century the cartel had operations in more than 50 countries but was particularly dominant in the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. Its origins can be traced to the Guadalajara cartel, which was one of Mexico's largest crime organizations in the early 1980s. Calls for his extradition to the United States started just hours after his arrest. The CJNG dropped flyers over a Mexican town to declare war on the Sinaloa Cartel and promised to "clean up" the region. Operatives like local gangs pick up the chemicals from dropoff points and ship them to hidden labs. Updates? The Sinaloa Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Sinaloa, Mexico. From this strategic point, the cartel distributes their product at the wholesale level to dozens of local street gangs, as much as 2 metric tons a month, in a city with over 117,000 documented gang members. In contrast, El Mayo's sons have either all been arrested and jailed in the United States or seem to be lying low. The core of the group, theBLO, split from the rest in 2008. [163], On 20 August 2009, the DEA broke up a large Mexican drug operation in Chicago, and uncovered a major distribution network operated by the Flores crew led by twin brothers Margarito and Pedro Flores that operated there. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. [95], In current times, it is believed that while Guzmn's relatives and friends scramble for marginal leadership positions in the organization, the real top leader is still Ismael Zambada whom allegedly mediates power between them and allows them an umbrella of the organization to work under his reign with seemingly, relative autonomy. [65] Most of the precursors required to synthesize fentanyl and its analogues come from China where it is then processed into actual fentanyl by criminal organizations in Mexico. [82][83] Flix Gallardo divided up his Federation by 1987, just two years after the capture and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar when the threat from American law enforcement became much more pressing. At that point his nephews, the Arellano Flix brothers, left and further solidified the organization which came to be known as the Tijuana Cartel, while the Sinaloa Cartel continued to be run by former lieutenants Hctor Luis Palma Salazar, Ismael Zambada Garca and Joaqun Guzmn Loera. 1. It was a blow to Mexicos efforts to fight drugs and further underscored the power of both the Sinaloa cartel and Guzmn. [115], Due to the cartel's past and current operations of pressing fentanyl into blue counterfeit "oxycodone (lookalike) pills" leading to tens of thousands of accidental overdose deaths in the U.S. yearly; the cartel has reportedly responded to this problem by making multicolored fentanyl pills so that customers know they are counterfeit and likely fentanyl rather than a controlled dose of the more sought-after drug oxycodone. Purportedly, a larger percentage of Mexican methamphetamine is now made from entirely synthetic precursors instead of the natural compound ephedrine. Flix Gallardo, following his imprisonment, bestowed the Guadalajara Cartel to his nephews in the Tijuana Cartel. Since 2013, the cartel has been operating in the Philippines after a raid on a ranch in Lipa, Batangas, according to a statement by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Arthur Cacdac, and have entered the country without notice. An inside look at Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Aviles was killed in a shootout with police in 1978. [25] The geographic presence of Mexican cartels in Colombia seems to directly coincide with areas where coca crops are more abundant or with strategic narcotrafficking corridors: the Pacific coast of Nario, Catatumbo, Bajo Cauca in Antioquia, Norte del Cauca, and Magdalena.[25]. The coalition's members operate in concert to protect themselves, relying on connections at the highest levels and corrupting portions of the federal police and military to maintain the upper hand against rivals. During the leadership of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn and Ismael Zambada Garca, the multi-billion dollar international drug trafficking empire supposedly controlled at least 91% of the world's heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana trade, regularly exporting multi-ton shipments of narcotics to the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. history. However, Mexican officials believe Posadas just happened to be caught in cross fire. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In the ensuing turf battles, a wave of unprecedented violence swept Mexico. To accomplish this task he used every means available: Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, narco submarines, container ships, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor-trailers and automobiles. The 300 feet (91m) tunnel was discovered in May 1990. [115] In this northern regional area of illicit production (See: clandestine chemistry), several important cities in its production and trade, such as Culiacn, Tijuana, Ensenada and San Luis Ro Colorado consistently see the highest amount of law enforcement seizures for fentanyl, typically in kilograms (powder) or pressed pills. Inzunza was believed to be one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's chief cartel leaders. According to the Washington Post, the Choneros are said to use their connections to rapidly move cocaine from the Colombian border to the port of Guayaquil. Although likely not as prolific in methamphetamine cooking as the CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel still has major methamphetamine operations throughout North America, which includes Mexico itself due to the now ubiquitous use of meth in the country. The death of Camarena was the beginning of the end of the Guadalajara Cartel. The country's overcrowded prison system and the COVID-19 pandemic has apparently dominated much of the government's attention and focus recently, thus allowing the gang to more easily grow and consolidate power. Cartel operatives say it's 'actually the opposite. Sinaloa cartel One of the oldest and largest of the Mexican cartels. It can be resold in the U.S. for at least 10 times as much.[114] The cartel also manufactures and traffics heroin, a semisynthetic morphinan compound made from the Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is now typically mixed with fentanyl to very cheaply increase its strength. Amy Tikkanen is the general corrections manager, handling a wide range of topics that include Hollywood, politics, books, and anything related to the. [65] In recent times fentanyl in Mexico has sometimes, haphazardly been referred to as Mexican oxy or even synthetic heroin. [65], According to a 2019 DEA report, it is estimated that each fentanyl pill costs only $1 to produce. The military-style attack on . Since 2018, Eduardo Giralt Brun has been trying to understand the psyche of the foot soldiers in the criminal group. Members of the Zetas being presented in Mexico City by the navy - they were alleged of being involved in the San Fernando massacre Credit: Associated Press. [97] According to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 short tons (180t) of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008. The Carrillo Fuentes family moved to Juarez. Guzmn is serving a life sentence in a US prison, but the Sinaloa cartel appears to be thriving. The majority of high-value hard drugs are smuggled into the U.S. through legal ports of entry (border crossings) according to the DEA and various sources. The leader of the CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera, the Mencho, was a hitman of Orlando the Lobo Nava Valencia, ringleader of the extinct Millennium Cartel, which in turn was the . Statement of Paul E. Knierim Deputy Chief of Operations, Office of Global Enforcement Drug Enforcement Administration Before the Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration [69] Although the DEA originally claimed that these multicolored pills and powders were designed specifically to be marketed to children, these claims have been denied by operatives of the cartel according to Business Insider and other sources. A DEA agent in the same trial alleged that Fierro-Mendez had contacts with a Mexican military officer. She served as a key link between the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and Colombia's Norte del Valle Cartel before she was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in 2012. When the Mexican government failed to indemnify the ejidatarios for their lost farmland, they reoccupied a 79 hectares (200 acres) portion of the Tijuana airport and threatened armed conflict. The Sinaloa Cartel is a powerful and violent Mexican drug trafficking organization based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The next time Valdez saw his boss's cruelty unleashed on enemies of the cartel, the alleged victims didn't arrive pre-tortured. Joaqun Archivaldo Guzmn Loera ( Spanish: [xoakin atialdo uzman loea]; born 4 April 1957), [5] commonly known as " El Chapo " ( pronounced [el tapo] ), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. [165], The Mexican Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) reported the arrest of Jess Alfredo Salazar Ramrez, alias "El Mueco" or "El Pelos", who was identified as the current lieutenant of the South Pacific Cartel in the state of Sonora. Although Colombia, Bolivia and Peru have traditionally been the most notable South American countries in the cocaine trade, in recent times; Venezuela as well as Ecuador have stepped up their involvement in the trade, with the Venezuelan organization Cartel of the Suns poising concern to authorities abroad as well as the increase in the size of recent cocaine seizures in Ecuador. The state of Sinaloa, the home of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, is also the location of the Mazatlan Prison where the 28 inmates were killed. Shannon, Elaine (1988). The region is a major producer of Mexican opium and marijuana. EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) Ten days after escaping supervised release in San Diego, a convicted Sinaloa cartel enforcer and two family members have been murdered in Culiacan, Mexican newspapers report.. They were, in essence, a small group of farming families that lived in rural parts of the state. [175] The allegation that US officials were controlling the drug trade through Mexico was corroborated by the former spokesman of the State of Chihuahua, Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva.[176]. Sinaloa notably gained territory from both the Tijuana and Jurez cartels, solidifying its position as one of the worlds most-powerful drug syndicates.

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