On 30 August 2010, Villarreal was captured by Mexican Federal Police. history. 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. [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. Sinaloa Cartel. 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. That state was long involved in the illegal drug industry as home to marijuana and poppy crops, and it was also the birthplace of numerous drug traffickers, including Hctor Luis Palma Salazar and Joaqun Guzmn Loera, who was known as El Chapo (Shorty). Throughout much of the 1990s, Ismael Zambada was also the only responsible for the cartel's mass growth and expansion while Guzmn and Palma were incarcerated. [47] He filed a guilty plea agreement and agreed to cooperate with the government on 8 November 2018.[148]. In November 1992, El Chapo sent 40 gunmen to raid a Tijuana Cartel party in Puerto Vallarta, killing nine people. 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? US pressure forced Mexican authorities to act, and the leaders of the cartel fled. "We have 20 'El Chapos' here." Members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) record themselves with prisoners from a rival cartel. He also claimed that the Sinaloa Cartel had bribed the military. 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. It remains to be seen if the Sinaloa Cartel can again claim the spot as the country's most dominant cartel, but right now the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG stand together as Mexico's two most dominant organized crime groups. 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.". [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. The battles between these organizations began almost immediately. 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. [80], Second generation Sinaloan traffickers such as Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo, Ismael Zambada Garca and Avils Prez' nephew Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn[81] would claim they learned all they knew about 'narcotraficantes' while serving in the Avils organization. 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. When the jet landed at the Tijuana airport, both police and military units failed to cordon off the aircraft and the gunmen escaped. The Tijuana Cartel responded by trying to assassinate El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport in 1993, killing a Mexican cardinal instead. The cartels have pressured reporters to send messages and wage a media war. The region is a major producer of Mexican opium and marijuana. [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. This Is America's Enemies + Woke . 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 . [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. [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. El Chapo fled to Guatemala where he was arrested two weeks later. 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. Allies and Enemies. [143], By 2005, the Beltrn-Leyva brothers, who were formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, had come to dominate drug trafficking across the border with Arizona. [84] By the mid-1990s, according to one court opinion, it was believed to be the size of the Medelln Cartel during its prime and has continued to grow to become one of the worlds largest criminal syndicates with widely diverse international connections. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. [159][160] El Buda served as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking activities and shipments from Central and South America. By 2006, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated all competition across the 528km of the Arizona border. 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 . Inzunza was believed to be one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's chief cartel leaders. Authorities noted that Sinaloa, along with other cartels, had become increasingly involved in the distribution of fentanyl, which contributed to the growing opioid crisis in the United States. [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]. 17. The "super tunnels" were equipped with power, ventilation and rail tracks to allow the efficient movement of large loads of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. In this case, he recalled, the payout to . [180][181][182] The cardinal arrived at the airport in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car, known to be popular amongst drug barons. Also quoted was a Mexican reporter who claimed hearing numerous times from the public that the military had been involved in murders. L ast year on Valentine's Day, the drug lord Joaquin " El Chapo " Guzman was designated Chicago's Public Enemy No. The cartels purportedly exploit weak points in the regulatory efforts of authorities in legal industries to facilitate production of the drug. 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. [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. On 8 January 2016, Guzman was arrested again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa. While the Sinaloa Cartel remains under the leadership of Zambada Garca, its local bosses have broad decision-making power, which makes it difficult to estimate how much of an overall toll this violence has had on the group. Horrifying moment Mexican drug cartel thugs pull mourners from a wake, line them up against the wall and shoot them - killing up to 17. They have also begun coloring the fentanyl powder in different colors so that dealers in the U.S. don't accidentally or intentionally mix in fentanyl powder with other white powdered substances like cocaine. [65], According to a 2019 DEA report, it is estimated that each fentanyl pill costs only $1 to produce. [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. [125][126] It was five times longer than the Agua Prieta-Douglas tunnel and became the first of a series of drug "super tunnels" in Otay Mesa originating in and around the Tijuana airport through the former Ejido Tampico. Although he was arrested and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in 1993, he continued to be a key figure in the cartel, and, according to various reports, he gained full control of the organization in 1995. Since then, the cartel has extended its reach across the whole of Mexico, aside from the areas controlled by the Sinaloa cartel. The CJNG dropped flyers over a Mexican town to declare war on the Sinaloa Cartel and promised to "clean up" the region. [110][111] Fentanyls precursor chemical shipments often arrive in Mexico at major ports like Lzaro Crdenas in Michoacn and Manzanillo in Colima. In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolve the issue, also failed. In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel dug its first drug tunnel between a house in Agua Prieta, Sonora to a warehouse located in Douglas, Arizona. Many of its members are related by birth or by marriage. . The Sinaloa organization also now participates directly in coca cultivation and production in Colombia. In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become embroiled in a series of violent turf wars. Their leaders included Rafael Caro Quintero, Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo. 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. 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 . Google Sites. Now, El Chapo's wife is in U.S. custody . border. . The Arellano Flix brothers set up camp in Tijuana. [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. 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. Following the 2004 assassination of journalist Roberto Javier Mora Garca from El Maana newspaper, much of the local media has been cautious about their reporting of the fighting. [91] On 29 July 2010, Ignacio Coronel was killed in a shootout with the Mexican military in Zapopan, Jalisco. [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. 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. The report also alleged, with support from an anthropologist who studies drug trafficking, that data on the low arrest rate of Sinaloa Cartel members (compared to other groups) was evidence of favoritism on the part of the authorities. 1, a maximum-security prison in the State of Mexico, through a tunnel in his prison cell. Chinese companies are turning to online sales to supply the fentanyl precursor market in Mexico. . [69], As of 2023, the Sinaloa Cartel remains Mexico's most dominant drug cartel. [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. It was a blow to Mexicos efforts to fight drugs and further underscored the power of both the Sinaloa cartel and Guzmn. by Luis Chaparro March 10, 2022, 5:58pm [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. [154] The focal point for Sinaloa in Chicago is the city's "Little Village" neighborhood. 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. Sinaloa cartel One of the oldest and largest of the Mexican cartels. From there it is smuggled north to Mexico and later into the U.S.[26] A very large percentage of the cocaine that gets trafficked through Mexico comes through Guatemala first. The CJNG emerged out of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010 after the death of former Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio Coronel, alias Nacho. Since, the CJNG has, across the country, involving itself in a host of criminal activities, including international drug trafficking, most recently involving synthetic drugs and powerful opioids like fentanyl, which the Sinaloa Cartel is, Even with El Chapo in jail for life, the Sinaloa Cartel has remained one of Mexico's. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. The cartel has also recently increased their migrant smuggling operations in border regions. 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. [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. [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. The core of the group, theBLO, split from the rest in 2008. We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Before co-founding the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael Zambada Garca was a farmer, freelancer and small-time drug trafficker who would sell mere kilograms of marijuana and heroin before eventually becoming acquainted with Mexico's more elite trafficking circles. By the early 21st century the cartel had operations in more than 50 countries but was particularly dominant in the United States. [96][58] However, much of the marijuana that is now cultivated and dealt by the cartel is being illegally grown in remote areas of California within the U.S. Territory: The west, mainly the Tierra Caliente region. [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. While other organizations expanded into human trafficking and extortion, among other activities, the Sinaloa cartel remained largely centred on drugs. [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. NPR's reporters interviewed dozens of officials and ordinary people for the journalistic investigation. 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. They have been known to frequently use American citizens as mules, many of whom have drugs stuffed in passenger vehicles or tractor-trailers. Given that El Chapo's conviction in the United States in 2019 landed him in prison for the rest of his life, El Mayo, the only remaining member from the Sinaloa Cartel's old guard, and El Chapo's sons, Joaqun Guzmn Lpez, Ovidio Guzmn Lpez, Ivn Archivaldo and Jess Alfredo, who are also known collectively as "Los Chapitos," are now left to head the general direction of the cartel's operations while it retains its horizontal structure. This division of the organization in the late 1980s led to the cartel essentially being made up of several smaller cartels who controlled their own territories and trafficking corridors with their own bosses. 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. These Special Forces-trained cartel members had recently demanded to be transferred. 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 Sinaloa Cartel is a powerful and violent Mexican drug trafficking organization based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The cartel emerged in 2010, first as an ally of the Sinaloa cartel of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, and then, by 2013, as an independent organization trafficking drugs through some of Mexico . 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. [118], Due to the leadership of the organization essentially being split between the Mayo Zambada and Los Chapitos factions of the cartel, much of the state of Sinaloa is also split territorially. [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. In the ensuing turf battles, a wave of unprecedented violence swept Mexico. I am from durango, in the city meth is legal to use, even the merchants sell meth pipes on the street (no joke) but in some of the cities of the state, meth is illegal, and if you get busted consuming you get beat up, paying a fee, and getting your self in a rehab center, that is a 30 minute difference where meth is illegal and legal. A DEA agent in the same trial alleged that Fierro-Mendez had contacts with a Mexican military officer. Guzmn have one close associate, Ismael Zambada Garca. 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. 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. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. In the mountains of Mexico's northern . 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. sfn error: no target: CITEREFEdmonds-PoliShirk2009 (, GMA News: "Mexican drug cartel penetrates PHL; PDEA raids lab in Lipa City" 26 December 2013, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Maritime drug trafficking in Latin America, "5 Members of a Major Mexican Drug-Trafficking Organization Indicted in Operation Money Train", "Tracking the Sinaloa Federation's International Presence", "Venezuela apunta al Crtel de Sinaloa: captur a miembros de la organizacin criminal en enfrentamiento fronterizo", "2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary", "Heroin bringing violent Mexican drug cartels to Western", "Charges: Cartel used Minnesota house for drugs, torture", "New indictment ups the ante for WNY drug network linked to Mexican cartel", "Ovidio Guzman, son of El Chapo and alleged major fentanyl trafficker, arrested in Mexico", "100,000-foot soldiers in Mexican cartels", "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border", "Army Destroys Massive Sinaloa Cartel Synthetic Drug Lab Outside Culiacn", "Zacatecas: Grupo Flechas Burns Alive A Jalisco Operative", "Grupo Flechas del Mayo Zambada asegura que fueron 43 las bajas del CJNG tras batalla", "Quines son los Cabrera: el brazo armado del "Mayo" Zambada que pelea por Durango y Zacatecas contra el CJNG", "Quin es el "Ruso", el sicario del "Mayo" Zambada que est en la mira de los "Chapitos", "Narco Funeral Draws Attention to Los Salazar in Mexico", "Quines son Los Salazar, los lugartenientes del Crtel de Sinaloa detrs de la trgica muerte de un nio en Sonora", "Mexican Narcotrafficking Cartels Expand their Control in Colombia", "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2008", "Six Colombian Nationals Plead Guilty To Conspiracy To Use "Narco-Submarines" To Smuggle Over 19,000 Kilograms Of Cocaine To The Sinaloa Cartel", "CDS El Mayo Troops Show Support for El Rodo's Independent Cartel in Nuevo Len", "Journalist Peter R. de Vries shot in the head. Taco Star was noted as suspicious due to payments of more than $200,000 to El Potosino. 1: 'El Chapo', "Probing Ties Between Mexican Cartel And Chicago's Violence", "Mexico drug cartel actively operating in Philippines, says Duterte", "Ejecutan en Chetumal a Juan Ulises Galvn Carmona, operador de El Chapo Guzmn", "Is the Jalisco Cartel Winning the Battle for Mexico's Caribbean? [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. [115] This has also subsequently led to the border city of San Diego reportedly becoming the epicenter for fentanyl trafficking in America due to its proximity to the border, according to local news reports. [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. Funky town of course. 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. [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. [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 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. 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. I have been trying to find the Sponsored by Adidas video but I can't ever seem to track it down. January 12, 2022 December 24, 2021 by americanpost. [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. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from the Federal Social Readaption Center No. Working closely with the Honduran Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros, the men came into contact with Colombia's Medelln 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. But instead, even more so than the Zetas a decade ago and far more so than its principal rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG relishes acting as a de facto nonstate army. protektor front rifle rest,
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