El Cholo formed his own gang, the "Nueva Plaza Cartel," financially supported by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of CJNG's biggest enemies. [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. 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 PAN's Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon launched numerous offensives against trafficking organizations, and some major leaders have been captured, including Osiel Crdenas Guilln, head of the Gulf Cartel, and Benjamin Arellano Flix, head of the Tijuana Cartel. [63][64] Much of the heroin smuggled, particularly by the Sinaloa Cartel is made in "The Golden Triangle", a region in Mexico overlapping parts of the states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua where opium and marijuana have historically been cultivated. [65] Despite trafficking various types of illicit substances, the cartel's operations seem to mostly favor the trade of cocaine and opioids, particularly in a distribution hub like Chicago, where demand for methamphetamine is relatively low. Aviles was killed in a shootout with police in 1978. [citation needed] Other shipments of South American cocaine are believed to originate from Cali and Medelln drug-trafficking groups in Colombia, from which the Sinaloa Cartel handles transportation across the U.S. border to distribution cells in Arizona, California, Illinois, Texas, New York City, and Washington state. 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 . 1 nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid fentanyl . Members of the Sinaloa cartel in a photograph included in . [156] President Rodrigo Duterte further confirmed the presence of the Sinaloa Cartel in the Philippines, saying that the cartel uses the country as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. Palma Salazar was arrested in 1995. The upper hand in the conflict has ebbed and flowed throughout the regions but with the Zetas an increasingly fragmented force, the Sinaloa Cartel seems poised to cement its position as the dominant force in the Mexican underworld. Methamphetamine, being another fully-synthetic compound (like fentanyl) also means that it doesn't require farming, cultivation and other related resources like those needed for production of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. El Chapo is in prison, but Sinaloa cartel remains strong. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel were traditionally considered allies but as of 2021, this alliance has reportedly fizzled out as the two groups now battle each other in the state of Zacatecas with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel now siding with the Gulf to fight against Sinaloa. [3][needs update] The cartel is primarily involved in the smuggling and distribution of South American (primarily Colombian) cocaine, Mexican marijuana, methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as Mexican and Southeast Asian heroin into the United States. The Tijuana Cartel responded by trying to assassinate El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport in 1993, killing a Mexican cardinal instead. A DEA agent in the same trial alleged that Fierro-Mendez had contacts with a Mexican military officer. Vi ctims were seen with their hands above their heads . [110][111] Fentanyls precursor chemical shipments often arrive in Mexico at major ports like Lzaro Crdenas in Michoacn and Manzanillo in Colima. 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. 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. [72], In the late 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico. The money it generates has left its imprint on the relationships between narcos and young women . In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolve the issue, also failed. [45], In retaliation, the Tijuana Cartel attempted to set up Guzmn at Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993. 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. Many of its members are related by birth or by marriage. 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. [92], Guzmn was captured on 22 February 2014, overnight by American and Mexican authorities. 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. 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. On April 17, 2012, 14 men, likely Los Zetas members, were found in a minivan, chopped to pieces, allegedly by the Jalisco New Generation cartel, part of the Sinaloa group.In an apparent retaliation, 23 bodies were discovered a few weeks later. Frozen, "Mexican drug lord killed in raid, officials say", "El Chapo, Escaped Mexican Drug Lord, Is Recaptured in Gun Battle", "The Drug Situation in the Chicago Field Division", "U.S. charges 10 accused Mexican drug cartel leaders", "Colombia Survey 2014: UNODC study shows significant increase in coca leaf production in high density areas", "Colombia Is Growing Record Amounts Of Coca, The Key Ingredient In Cocaine", "Cocaine production in Colombia is at historic highs", "Colombia's Cocaine Keeps On Reaching New Heights: UNODC Report", "60 Charged in San Diego-based Sinaloa Cartel Meth Investigation", "Major multi-million meth bust alarms Atlanta DEA agents", "Drug cartels stealing millions of gallons of water for marijuana grows in Antelope Valley: Officials", "Nearly 7 Tons of Marijuana Seized from Suspected Cartel Grow Sites in Monterey County, California", "LA County's Largest Drug Bust in History Involves Suspected Mexican Cartels", "Made in China: China's Role in Transnational Crime and Illicit Financial Flows", "Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG Share Fentanyl Chemical Suppliers", "Latest news from around the world | The Guardian", "Consumption Of Fentanyl, The Drug That Is 50 Times Strronger Than Heroin, Grows In Northern Mexico", "Mexico's precursor chemical controls: Emergence of less potent types of methamphetamine in the United States", "Army Secures 1.2 Tons Of Methamphetamine In Cosal, Sinaloa", "Mapa de crteles del narco en Mxico segn Inteligencia Financiera", "Ivan Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmn's Top Lieutenants", "Chapo's rise: From poor, abused to cartel kingpin", "Annals of Excavation: Underworld- How the Sinaloa Cartel digs its tunnels", "Mexico Cardinal Slain; Caught in Gun Battle: Violence: 6 others are killed at Guadalajara airport. . 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. . One YouTube video sympathetic to the Sinaloa Cartel opens with white lettering: "This is what happens to all my enemies." A singer launches into an up-tempo song against a montage of images: slain . 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. Since 2018, Eduardo Giralt Brun has been trying to understand the psyche of the foot soldiers in the criminal group. [159][160] El Buda served as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking activities and shipments from Central and South America. The cartel has also recently increased their migrant smuggling operations in border regions. By Kristina Davis. Given that El Chapo's conviction in the United States in 2019. of the cartel's operations while it retains its horizontal structure. [112] Front companies in Mexico can easily import the small quantities cartel groups need to be diverted for production by mixing them in with legal products or mislabeling them altogether. [87] The Sinaloa Cartel is "a confederation of criminal organizations based on regional culture, and deep, shared blood ties that have been generated during decades of endogenous practice. 17. [91] On 29 July 2010, Ignacio Coronel was killed in a shootout with the Mexican military in Zapopan, Jalisco. The Sinaloa organization also now participates directly in coca cultivation and production in Colombia. New York: Viking. "Sinaloa, think of Chapo, Chapo Guzmn and his kids, Mayo Zambada. The cartels purportedly exploit weak points in the regulatory efforts of authorities in legal industries to facilitate production of the drug. With unregulated trucking and warehouse operations, the former Ejido Tampico became a major distribution point for narcotics being moved into the United States. [15] The Nuevo Laredo region is an important drug trafficking corridor into Laredo, Texas, where as much as 40% of all Mexican exports pass through into the U.S. Guzmn also faces federal indictment in several locations including San Diego, New York, and Texas, among other places. [25], Pedro Avils Prez was a pioneer drug lord in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in the late 1960s. In the ensuing years, drug tunnels moving tons of narcotics were detected in and around the Tijuana airport. 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. [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. It is based in Culiacn, Sinaloa state, Mexico. ", "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. The body of Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, a.k.a. Operatives like local gangs pick up the chemicals from dropoff points and ship them to hidden labs. L ast year on Valentine's Day, the drug lord Joaquin " El Chapo " Guzman was designated Chicago's Public Enemy No. It has cells in more than 70 cities in the U.S. from Seattle to Miami . The Sinaloa cartel chief Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn was captured for the final time in January 2016. 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. Sons of Joaqun Archivaldo Guzmn Loera, alias "El Chapo," known as the Chapitos, are fighting with the cartel's older members for control. [84], Gallardo was eventually arrested in 1989 and, while incarcerated, he remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining contact with his organization via mobile phone until he was transferred to a new maximum security prison in the early 1990s. [105] In the summer of 2021, this apparently led to Los Angeles County's largest marijuana bust in its history.[105][106][107]. 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. It has successfully penetrated government and security forces wherever it operates. After the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jess Posadas Ocampo and six others at the Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993,[123] the gunmen boarded a commercial jet. The group has expanded rapidly . Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels: Competing or Collaborating? In contrast, El Mayo's sons have either all been arrested and jailed in the United States or seem to be lying low. Working closely with the Honduran Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros, the men came into contact with Colombia's Medelln Cartel. [38][39][76][77][78] The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have reportedly also moved their rivalry to at least five different departments in Colombia according to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. [69], As of 2023, the Sinaloa Cartel remains Mexico's most dominant drug cartel. This caused most of the organization's activities to be controlled and influenced directly from prison where the gang continued to recruit new members. Operatives of the cartel have reportedly claimed that their intention was the opposite of that and it was actually meant to distinguish them from real pharmaceuticals. In the mountains of Mexico's northern . Mexican authorities have captured Ovidio Guzmn, a son of incarcerated drugs kingpin Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, prompting a furious response from cartel gunmen in the northern city of . Barron had received intelligence that Guzmn would be arriving in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car. Ovidio Guzmn's arrest may be the start of a campaign against El Chapo's sons and the Sinaloa cartel. For a long time, the cartel also benefited from the relative ease of cash transactions and money laundering through banks with presence both in the US and Mexico like HSBC. More than half of that is believed to be supplied by Sinaloa. Members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) record themselves with prisoners from a rival cartel. Secrets of Mexico's Drug War", "Lieutenant in Mexican drug cartel a wanted man", "Mexico arrests 'drug lord' Edgar Valdez", "Univision, Netflix 'El Chapo' Series Sets April Premiere", "The legend of 'El Chapo': Hiding in plain sight? Funky town of course. The Sinaloa Cartel has historically operated in the "Golden Triangle", the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua. Nor does the selectivity and calibration of Sinaloa's use of violence mean that the Cartel, including El Chapo, have shied away from brutal torture of captured internal or external enemies, as . [164], On 11 May 2010, Alfonso Gutirrez Loera, cousin of Joaqun Guzmn Loera, and 5 other drug traffickers were arrested after a shootout with Federal Police officers in Culiacan, Sinaloa. The current rate of production and sale of methamphetamine in Mexico is also a result of the so-called "new era" of fully-synthetic drug manufacturing and trafficking. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The resulting products are shipped to the United States and many South American countries. [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. However, Mexican officials believe Posadas just happened to be caught in cross fire. 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. [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. The Arellano Flix brothers set up camp in Tijuana. CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. However, the war with rival cartel the Zetas, who in some regions have allied themselves with the remnants of the BLO, has spread across the country and raged through the states of Sinaloa,Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Jalisco, even reaching into Guatemala. Flix Gallardo, following his imprisonment, bestowed the Guadalajara Cartel to his nephews in the Tijuana Cartel. Guzmn resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel, but on 8 January 2016, Guzmn was captured again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzmn's home state of Sinaloa. It was a telling day to bestow the measure of dishonor, a nod to the . [158], On 4 July 2019, Juan Ulises Galvn Carmona, alias "El Buda", was killed by two hit men in a convenience store in Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo state along Mexico's Caribbean coast. They also announced the seizure of more than $59million in cash and numerous vehicles, planes, and boats. 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. Brutal but Futile: Venezuela's Anti-Gang 'Mega-Operations', MS13s Mexico Program Key to El Salvador Gang Negotiations, Peace Leaders in Putumayo, Colombia Bet Their Lives on Coca Crop Substitution, Pablo Escobar and the Real Criminal Story of the Cocaine Bear, Haitis Rural Gangs Threaten Food Production as Hunger Crisis Looms, Venezuelan Migrants Remain Easy Prey for Organized Crime, China Producers Cashing in on Online Sale of Fentanyl Precursors, In the Riviera Maya, Cartel Extortion Schemes Know No Limits, Failed Kingpin Strategy at Heart of New US-Mexico Security Plans, InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press, World Looks to InSight Crime for Mexico Expertise. In January 2017, El Chapo was extradited to the United States. [citation needed] By the mid-1990s, according to one court opinion, the Sinaloa organization was believed to be the size of the Medelln Cartel during its prime. In the 1960s and 1970s, they moved from the contraband trade into drugs, particularly marijuana. [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. [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. Another close associate, Javier Torres Flix, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in December 2006. [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. In the shootout that followed, six civilians were killed by the hired gunmen from Logan Heights. He was arrested on 30 December 2013, at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, at the petition of the United States of America, and with the help of Interpol, on charges related to drug trafficking. [151][152][153], In 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission named Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmn "Public Enemy No. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact. This would make it less likely the whole organization would be brought down all at once. Many of these mules are American citizens which helps ease the smuggling process, usually through the ports of entry back into the U.S. Mules are typically paid several thousand dollars to transport what usually amounts to millions of dollars worth of narcotics at a time. Sinaloa cartel One of the oldest and largest of the Mexican cartels. The operations remained under the auspices of El Chapo's brother Arturo Loera, Ramon Laija Serrano, and Hector, Alfredo and Arturo Beltran Leyva. A U.S. jury has convicted a former Mexican presidential cabinet member of taking massive bribes to protect the drug cartels he was tasked with combating, A key prosecution witness has testified he delivered millions of dollars in payoffs destined for former Mexican public safety chief Genaro Garca Luna and saw him leave with the bags of cash. The boldness of the Mexican traffickers became evident when they murdered undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena in 1985.
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