They were, in essence, a small group of farming families that lived in rural parts of the state. 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. El Chapo is in prison, but Sinaloa cartel remains strong. ", "Mexico's Sinaloa gang grows empire, defies crackdown", "Unraveling Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel", "Inside Mexico's Most Powerful Drug Cartel", "Where 7 Mexican drug cartels are active within the U.S.", "Mexican traffickers making New York a hub for lucrative and deadly fentanyl", "Inside the Sinaloa Cartel's Fentanyl Smuggling Operations", "Drug Users Are Nostalgic for 'Old-School Heroin' as Fentanyl Takes Over", "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller: Season 1 Episode 2: Fentanyl", "Cartels Take to Social Media to Peddle Deadly Fentanyl Pills, DEA Says", "Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Climb in Washington, and Cartels Are to Blame, Feds Say", "San Diego: The epicenter of fentanyl trafficking", "The DEA says drug cartels are putting fentanyl in candy to sell to kids. [171], In 2012, Newsweek reported about allegations from an anonymous former Sinaloa member turned informant and former DEA agents that alleged that Joaqun Guzmn's legal adviser, Humberto Loya-Castro, had become a key informant for the DEA. [4][89] Guzmn was captured in Guatemala on 9 June 1993, and extradited to Mexico, where he was jailed in a maximum security prison, but on 19 January 2001, Guzmn escaped and resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel. [127][128], The Mexican government's conflict with the former Ejido Tampico dated back to 1970, when they expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) of the Ejido Tampico to build a new runway and passenger terminal at the Tijuana airport and agreed to pay the displaced ejidatarios (the communal farmers) $1.4million pesos ($112,000 U.S. dollars in 1970). Loya-Castro had become an official informant of the DEA in 2005 but was already providing vital information on rival cartels since the 1990s; such intel was instrumental to the takedown of the Tijuana Cartel, the Sinaloa cartel's main rival, as well as the death of Arturo Beltrn Leyva, who led a splinter group from the Sinaloa cartel. said the Sinaloa Cartel at one time slaughtered more . [93], In May 2009, the U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) aired multiple reports alleging that the Mexican federal police and military were working in collusion with the Sinaloa Cartel. [155], The Sinaloa Cartel has operations in the Philippines as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. Jos Rodrigo Archiga Gamboa (alias "Chino Antrax") was a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. The cartel's current leader, Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, is public enemy number one in both Mexico and the United States. [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. [94], On 24 June 2020, Zambada was revealed to be "sick with diabetes," and that Zambada reportedly gave El Chapo's sons more influence over the Sinaloa Cartel. Ecuador's purported 2021 "spiral" into increased rates of crime and drug violence supposedly can be traced back to December 28, 2020, when Jorge Luis Zambrano Gonzlez (alias Rasquia), leader of the gang was assassinated in a shopping mall cafeteria in Manta. In 1999, the Tijuana airport was privatized and became part of a 12 airport network known as Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacfico (Pacific Airport Group). After the North American Free Trade Agreement the wealth of the Gulf Cartel skyrocketed and the cartel's leader Osiel Cardenas, along with his militaristic Z. It was established in Mexico during the late 1980s as one of a various number of subordinate plazas" operating under a predecessor organization known as the Guadalajara Cartel. 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. The Sinaloa Cartel has a presence in at least 22 of the 31 Mexican states, with important centers in Mexico City, Tepic, Toluca, Zacatecas, Guadalajara and most of the state of Sinaloa. The Sinaloa cartel is the leading cocaine trafficker from South America to the worldwide market, with an economic presence in 47 countries. By 2006, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated all competition across the 528km of the Arizona border. Investigators identified El Postino as a potential front for the Sinaloa cartel in 2016. El Chapo, El Azul and El Mayo all maintained their own separate but cooperating organizations, while the cartel's operations in foreign countries, and even within Mexico, are often outsourced to local partners. [51][96][9][10] Since Colombia is still currently the biggest producer of cocaine in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel is currently the most active Mexican cartel operating within Colombia where it helps finance and support several of Colombia's local paramilitary drug-trafficking groups such as the left-wing National Liberation Army, dissidents of FARC and Colombia's current largest drug cartel and right-wing paramilitary group; the Clan del Golfo. [47] Local state and government crackdowns on these farms however has pushed much of the opioid market in the direction of synthetics like fentanyl which can be made far more covertly. [citation needed], The Sinaloa Cartel was partially splintered in 2008 when the Beltrn-Leyva brothers broke apart from the cartel.[47]. The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Crtel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmn-Zambada Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering. That's supposed to a brutal one as well. -2012), which was continued by Enrique Pea Nieto until 2018, the relatively fledgling JNGC was busy taking over its enemies' turf. The municipalities of Cosala and Mazatln are said to have more than one group controlling the territory as well as some of the northern regions of the state, which are purportedly partially controlled by the Beltrn-Leyva Organization. [51][4] It also has a notable presence in a number of other regions in Latin America, such as Colombia; as well as in cities across the U.S.[6][25] The United States Intelligence Community generally considers the Sinaloa Cartel to be the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world, making it perhaps even more influential and capable than Pablo Escobars infamous Medelln Cartel of Colombia was during its prime. It was discovered as Mexican and San Diego officials were discussing the creation of a cross-border airport between Tijuana and Otay Mesa which would have undermined the drug tunneling operations in the area (see History of the Cross Border Xpress). In December 2013, three suspected members of the cartel were arrested in Lipa in Batangas province in the Philippines with 84 kilograms of methamphetamine.[156][169]. 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. [168] He was a leader and founding member of Los ntrax, an armed squadron formed to protect Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garca, founding member of the Sinaloa Cartel. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from the Federal Social Readaption Center No. Formed in about 2010, the Jalisco cartel is the strongest and most aggressive competitor to the Sinaloa. [132][133][134][135][136] In 2011, at the westerly end of the Tijuana airport a 1,800-foot (550-meter) drug "super tunnel" was discovered dug under the airport's 10/28 runway[137][138] from a warehouse located 980 feet (300 meters) from Mexico's 12th Military Air Base and 330 feet (100 meters) from a Mexican Federal Police station. The group is involved in fighting in the Nuevo Laredo region for control of the drug trafficking corridor. The boldness of the Mexican traffickers became evident when they murdered undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena in 1985. El Chapo maintained some control from prison, passing messages through his lawyers. Hit lists published on platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp drive people to flee, but even once they're in the U.S. they continue to be stalked. [172] Such allegations were confirmed by court documents obtained by El Universal during their investigation of collaboration with top officials from the Sinaloa cartel. [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. Matta Ballesteros lived part-time in Colombia, where he operated as the main intermediary between Mexican and Colombian traffickers, particularly the Medelln and Guadalajara Cartels. This new "cartel" is made up of residents of . [65], The northern regions of Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora have also been dubbed by some media outlets as the Golden Triangle for fentanyl production and transferring, as both a distinction from and comparison to the classic opium farming region further south. The money it generates has left its imprint on the relationships between narcos and young women . The Sinaloa Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Sinaloa, Mexico. [154] The focal point for Sinaloa in Chicago is the city's "Little Village" neighborhood. Such information ensured Loya-Castro was immune from prosecution while also keeping the DEA concentrated on Sinaloa's rivals and away from their leadership. Investigators are seeking a Tijuana businessman who owned the parcel", "DEA Couldn't Verify Tips on Drug Tunnel", "DRUG TUNNELS ALONG THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: HIGH COSTS, HIGH REWARDS", "Border tunnels: Complete list of those found", "Ejidatarios exigen pago justo por tierra expropiada en BC- El aeropuerto internacional de Tijuana ocupa la superficie", "DEA/ICE Uncover "Massive" Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Cement lined passage thought to link warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa", "2,400-foot tunnel 'beats them all' -Builders of passage were well-funded, investigators say", "Major cross-border drug tunnel discovered south of San Diego", "Quitan tneles y droga a la mafia en BC-Decomisan 40 toneladas de marihuana", "Raid on U.S.-Mexico drug tunnel: 22 arrests, at least 12 tons of pot seized", "Hallan Otro Narcotunel Cerca del Aeropuerto", "Second Major Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Discovered South of San Diego This Month- Investigators seize 32 tons of marijuana, arrest 6 suspects", "Elaborate drug tunnel yields record pot seizure- More than 32 tons recovered in the United States and Mexico", "El tnel de Mxico a EU para transportar droga tena un elevador y rieles", "Drug lord 'El Chapo' extradited to the U.S.", "Mexican authorities busted 2 more cross-border tunnels possibly built by the Sinaloa cartel", "Sophisticated drug cartel tunnel from San Diego to Mexico found", "Woman linked to cartel kingpin 'El Chapo' arrested at San Diego border, charged in drug conspiracy", "HSBC money-laundering scandal casts a cloud over Lord Green, the trade minister", "U.S. Says Threat of Mexican Drug Cartels Approaching 'Crisis Proportions', "Treasury Designates Sinaloa Cartel Plaza Bosses", "HSBC became bank to drug cartels, pays big for lapses", "Sinaloa Cartel Bought Narco Plane Via HSBC Bank", "Forget The Drug Dealers And Iran, HSBC Is Having A Great Year", "Chicago's new Public Enemy No. He claimed that the Sinaloa Cartel influenced the Mexican government and military to gain control of the region. The Sinaloa Cartel has been waging a war against the Tijuana Cartel (Arellano-Flix Organization) over the Tijuana smuggling route to the border city of San Diego, California. By Jan-Albert Hootsen September 2, 2015. The resulting products are shipped to the United States and many South American countries. [62][63][64] As of 2023[update], the Sinaloa Cartel is overall the most active drug cartel involved in smuggling illicit drugs into the United States and trafficking them throughout the country. [92], Guzmn was captured on 22 February 2014, overnight by American and Mexican authorities. One report quotes a former Juarez police commander who claimed the entire department was working for the Sinaloa Cartel and helping it to fight other groups. [170] Another report detailed numerous indications of corruption and influence that the cartel has within the Mexican government. [69], Although the Sinaloa Cartel has traditionally grown and cultivated marijuana locally in the original "Golden Triangle" region of Mexico, the cartel as well as other Mexican cartels have, in recent times, set up large marijuana growing operations in the remote forests and deserts of California where they reportedly have stolen millions of gallons of water for these illegal grows. YouTube. 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. As the country's criminal landscape continues to grow more fragmented, it's unclear if and how traditional cartels will be forced to adapt. [157] The presence of the cartel in the Philippines has worsened the ongoing war between drug lords, drug cartels and the government in that country. [120] The Sinaloa Cartel also reportedly has a major presence in Colombia and has partnered with various paramilitary drug cartels such as the Clan del Golfo. In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolve the issue, also failed. The cartel was founded in 1989 when Mexican smugglers Hctor Palma Salazar, Juan Jos Esparragoza Moreno and Joaqun Guzmn Loera splintered from the Guadalajara Cartel. Operatives like local gangs pick up the chemicals from dropoff points and ship them to hidden labs. The message heralded the launch of "Operation . [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]. [84] Following the discovery of a tunnel system used to smuggle drugs across the Mexican/US border, the group has also been associated with such means of trafficking.[9][86]. In August 2021, a single multi-ton cocaine shipment was seized off the coast of Ecuador causing a string of killings in the aftermath. In 2012, the cartel emerged victorious from a bloody battle with the Juarez Cartel over control of Ciudad Juarez. Barron had received intelligence that Guzmn would be arriving in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car. He is linked to various homicides, among them the lawyer Rubn Alejandro Cepeda Leos, who was assassinated on 20 December 2011, in the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. This time it was all Chapo . Revealed: how Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has created a global network to rule the fentanyl trade. [103][104] The CDS as well as other large Mexican cartels have also set up major marijuana growing operations in the remote forests and deserts of California. The CDS is said to have a longstanding partnership with one of Ecuador's largest and most powerful criminal groups; The Choneros, which are based in the Pacific coast beach town of Manta, although they get their name from the western city of Chone. "Sinaloa, think of Chapo, Chapo Guzmn and his kids, Mayo Zambada. It also currently deals in the fentanyl trade to a large extent, distributing both raw fentanyl powder as well as counterfeit "M30" pills designed to look like authentic oxycodone but which are in-fact, just pressed with fentanyl or other chemicals. 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. January 12, 2022 December 24, 2021 by americanpost. [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]. Wednesday, May 26th 2021. 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 . In November 1992, El Chapo sent 40 gunmen to raid a Tijuana Cartel party in Puerto Vallarta, killing nine people. However, the cartel also often acts more like a federation than a tightly knit organization. It was established in Mexico during the late 1980s as one of a various number of subordinate "plazas . 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. 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. [citation needed]. Corrections? However, Mexican officials believe Posadas just happened to be caught in cross fire. 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. Cartel operatives say it's 'actually the opposite. The capture of the Sinaloa Cartel's "El Chapo" Guzmn ignited a fight over the trial's location. The latest family member to escape apprehension El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzmn Lpez managed his own feat of government humiliation this week, when cartel henchmen forced a patrol of at . Also quoted was a Mexican reporter who claimed hearing numerous times from the public that the military had been involved in murders. "El Chino ntrax," was among three found Saturday inside a BMW X-5 sports utility vehicle registered to his sister, El Sol de . [79] He also pioneered the use of aircraft to smuggle drugs to the United States. [65], According to a 2019 DEA report, it is estimated that each fentanyl pill costs only $1 to produce. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers them to be "the biggest, most powerful drug cartel of all time". [121][122] Following the discovery by U.S. Customs and Mexican Federal Police, the Sinaloa Cartel began to focus their smuggling operations towards Tijuana and Otay Mesa, San Diego where it acquired a warehouse in 1992. After the breakaway of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) in 2008, El Chapo became the most visible head of the Sinaloa Cartel, although he was joined at the top table by El Mayo and Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, alias "El Azul." A cartel leader and hitman fond of videotaping torture sessions and decapitating likely dozens of enemies has gone missing from a federal prison in Florida, where he was serving a 49-year sentence. The cartels have pressured reporters to send messages and wage a media war. [99][100][101][102] As of 2021, due to the high profit margins of its cocaine trafficking networks, the Sinaloa Cartel is currently the most active Mexican cartel in Colombian territory and partners with the National Liberation Army (ELN), dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the neo-paramilitary gang, Clan del Golfo, whom it purportedly helps finance. Here is the fuk up thing. However, El Licenciado and his son, Damso Lpez Serrano, alias Mini Lic, have both been, . [74], At the time of his arrest on 5 January 2023, El Chapo son Ovidio Guzmn was believed to be the leader of the cartel's Chapitos faction. The Tijuana Cartel responded by trying to assassinate El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport in 1993, killing a Mexican cardinal instead. . Sinaloa notably gained territory from both the Tijuana and Jurez cartels, solidifying its position as one of the worlds most-powerful drug syndicates. The state of Sinaloa has long been a center for contraband in Mexico, as well as a home for marijuana and poppy cultivation. The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Crtel de Sinaloa),[48][49] also known as the CDS, the Guzmn-Zambada Organization, the Pacific Cartel,[50] the Federation and the Blood Alliance,[51][52][53] is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering. 1" of a city Guzmn has never set foot in. As of 2013, the Sinaloa Cartel continued to dominate the Sonora-Arizona corridor, which extends for nearly 375 miles. [69] The cartel has also been known to use blind mules, particularly for the smuggling and transporting of fentanyl into and throughout the U.S., oftentimes with the mules not even knowing what they're trafficking. 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. [119][16], Despite its measured and challenged presence in Mexico however, the Federation is also well known for its large and widespread international presence and its many transnational criminal operations and partners. The formation of El Mencho's new cartel was announced to the world in a violent public display with grisly spectacles eventually becoming the group's trademark. [25] According to the Ombudsman's Office, an autonomous institution under the Colombian Office of the Attorney General; in the first two months of 2021, violent events (augmented by Mexican trafficking groups) displaced more than 11,000 people from their communities within Colombia. According to reports at the time, it was responsible for the majority of illegal drugsnotably marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetaminesthat were smuggled from Mexico into its northern neighbour, and in 2015 U.S. officials claimed that Sinaloa controlled the drug markets in almost every state. The 300 feet (91m) tunnel was discovered in May 1990. The sicario seen eating his enemy is a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which is locked in a deadly battle with the Sinaloa Cartelformerly run by Chapo Guzmn and now headed . Possibly fearing extradition to the United States, Guzmn escaped from prison in 2001. However, Zambada also used this conflict to his advantage since the Mexican government began to crackdown primarily on the Tijuana Cartel, Mayo used this weakening of his rivals as an opportunity for Sinaloa to step up in the trafficking world. 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.". In contrast, El Mayo's sons have either all been arrested and jailed in the United States or seem to be lying low. The most well-known leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, The origins of the Sinaloa Cartel as well as its founding members have also been portrayed in the, The Sinaloa Cartel are the main antagonists of 2018 film, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 20:19. [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. The CDS is also battling La Linea teamed with the CJNG in Ciudad Juarez. Guzmn have one close associate, Ismael Zambada Garca. By Kristina Davis. His work has led to two documentaries and a book of photography that challenge the glamorous TV depictions of narco culture. In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become embroiled in a series of violent turf wars. Territory: The west, mainly the Tierra Caliente region. . [65] In recent times fentanyl in Mexico has sometimes, haphazardly been referred to as Mexican oxy or even synthetic heroin. As a result, more criminal, Despite the pandemics economic fallout being felt throughout the Riviera Maya, cartels have continued their extortion schemes in Mexico's popular, The United States and Mexico have officially entered a new phase of their partnership to tackle transnational organized crime groups. When the jet landed at the Tijuana airport, both police and military units failed to cordon off the aircraft and the gunmen escaped. As stated by Sedena, "El Mueco" worked as an administrator under Joaqun Guzmn Loera[166] and is believed to be responsible for the death of the activist Nepomuceno Moreno. 1. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. They established the patterns that we see repeated today: movement of bulk shipments of cocaine via airplane and boat to Central America and Mexico, then by land routes into the United States. The former Ejido Tampico also continued to expand its unpermitted development and more drug tunnels were discovered operating within its boundary to warehouses located on Otay Mesa in San Diego, California. In July 2015, Donald Trump exchanged fierce words with the Mexican "Sinaloa" drug cartel's kingpin, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. 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 . [139] As with prior "super tunnels", it was equipped with an elevator and electric rail cars to efficiently ferry narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. 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.

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