Ovidio Guzmn's arrest may be the start of a campaign against El Chapo's sons and the Sinaloa cartel. Another piece of . [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. His work has led to two documentaries and a book of photography that challenge the glamorous TV depictions of narco culture. The arrest, conviction and life sentence of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in 2019 has done little to dent the Sinaloa drug cartel he ran. 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. 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. 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. [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. Google Sites. As the Mexican government intensified its efforts to arrest suspected drug lords, he eluded capture, but other cartel leaders were imprisoned, weakening organizations and giving rise to splinter groups. However, the days of big cartels in Mexico may be numbered. The Sinaloa cartel chief Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn was captured for the final time in January 2016. In 2020, divisions between Los Chapitos and El Mayo appeared to worsen, with a number of deadly clashes reported between their supporters as well as the mysterious assassination of a former top Sinaloa Cartel hitman. The church hierarchy originally believed Posadas was targeted as revenge for his strong stance against the drug trade. However, El Licenciado and his son, Damso Lpez Serrano, alias Mini Lic, have both been, . [8][62][16] As mentioned previously, the organization is currently heavily involved in the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, much of which consists of making and selling counterfeit M30 pills designed to look like pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone pills, but which evidently do not contain any real oxycodone. In an attempt to resolve the dispute and remove the ejidatarios from the privatized Tijuana airport, the Mexican government established a value on the expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) at $1.2million pesos ($125,560 U.S. dollars in 1999) while the ejidatarios of the former Ejido Tampico taking into account the increase in property values from 1970 to 1999 and the privatization of the Tijuana airport established a commercial value on their lost land at $2.8billion pesos ($294million U.S. dollars). We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact. Battles between the Sinoloa and Los Zetas cartels have left a bloody legacy in the streets of Nuevo Leon. [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. He is considered to be the first generation of major Mexican drug smugglers of marijuana who marked the birth of large-scale Mexican drug trafficking. The reasons for "disappearing" cartel enemies varies. Yeshua Ben Yosef told his followers to "Turn away from Sin, to abandon Sin, to refuse to participate in the world of Sin ." Christians are too brainwashed to realize, Sin is the name of the ruler of Earth and the God of Jerusalem. [93] With the arrest of Joaqun Guzmn Loera, Ismael Zambada has assumed the total leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. [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. April 30, 2021 3:06 PM PT. 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. El Mayo was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for El Chapo after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001. 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. As shown by image 3 Drug Trafficking Tunnel, in 2006 the unpermitted development allowed the building of a 2,400-foot (730-meter) drug "super tunnel" originating from the former Ejido Tampico and adjacent to the Tijuana airport's runway. In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become embroiled in a series of violent turf wars. [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. It has cells in more than 70 cities in the U.S. from Seattle to Miami . [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]. [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. CJNG and the Nueva Plaza Cartel fought over the years to . 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. [161][162], In March 2009, the Mexican Government announced the deployment of 1,000 Federal Police officers and 5,000 Mexican Army soldiers to restore order in Ciudad Jurez, which has suffered the highest number of casualties in the country. Mayo's traditional major distribution hubs were allegedly in Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Denver. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Members of the Sinaloa cartel in a photograph included in . In 2014 Guzmn was apprehended in Mazatln, Sinaloa, Mexico, but the following year he escaped from prison through a tunnel. In January 2017, El Chapo was extradited to the United States. [110][111] Fentanyls precursor chemical shipments often arrive in Mexico at major ports like Lzaro Crdenas in Michoacn and Manzanillo in Colima. Sinaloa Cartel Enemies: Cali Cartel (CC) Natural Born Killers (NBK) Kings Over All (KOA) Callahan Crime Family (CCF) Back In Blood (BIB) _____ Sinaloa Cartel Sub gangs: None. The death of Camarena was the beginning of the end of the Guadalajara Cartel. Cartel operatives say it's 'actually the opposite. As seen on image 1 Drug tunnel corridors the close proximity of the former Ejido Tampico to the Tijuana airport and U.S.-Mexico border made it an ideal staging area for smuggling operations into the United States. It is based in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. [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. CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. 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. [54][55][47] It is currently headed by Ismael Zambada Garca and is based in the city of Culiacn, Sinaloa,[56] with operations in many world regions but primarily in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua. Both were associated with the Sinaloa Cartel. Footage uploaded by The Jalisco New Generation . Estimates of its annual revenue ranged from $3 billion to $39 billion. the members of The Cartel Project mean to send a powerful message to enemies of the free press . We want to sustain Latin Americas largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources. In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel dug its first drug tunnel between a house in Agua Prieta, Sonora to a warehouse located in Douglas, Arizona. [154] The focal point for Sinaloa in Chicago is the city's "Little Village" neighborhood. Many of its members are related by birth or by marriage. [187], American actor Sean Penn heard about the connection with Ms. del Castillo through a mutual acquaintance, and asked if he might come along to do an interview. [90][45] Guzman and Zambada became Mexico's top drug kingpins in 2003, after the arrest of their rival Osiel Crdenas Guilln of the Gulf Cartel. 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. News outlets in Mexico are reporting contradictory stories about whether the Jalisco and Sinaloa Cartels are friends, enemies or something in between. L ast year on Valentine's Day, the drug lord Joaquin " El Chapo " Guzman was designated Chicago's Public Enemy No. A DEA agent in the same trial alleged that Fierro-Mendez had contacts with a Mexican military officer. [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. Report abuse . The Sinaloa Cartel is not a hierarchical structure. [145], In January 2008 the cartel allegedly split into a number of warring factions, which is a major cause of the epidemic of drug violence Mexico has seen in the last year. [51][58][186] Following the 2003 arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Crdenas Guilln, it is believed the Sinaloa Cartel moved 200 men into the region to battle the Gulf Cartel for control. Cartel De Sinaloa | CSN -Approved by Heck All content is limited to FiveM, not real life. A Mexican official denied the allegation of favoritism, and a DEA agent and a political scientist also had alternate explanations for the arrest data. The body of Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, a.k.a. 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. By 2006, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated all competition across the 528km of the Arizona border. Now, El Chapo's wife is in U.S. custody . In 1999, the Tijuana airport was privatized and became part of a 12 airport network known as Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacfico (Pacific Airport Group). [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). [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 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. [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. Today, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin CJNG), is the Sinaloa Cartel's primary enemy. 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. [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. 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 . The 300 feet (91m) tunnel was discovered in May 1990. We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. The Milenio (Michoacn), Jalisco (Guadalajara), Sonora (Sonora), and Colima cartels were now branches of the Sinaloa Cartel. Desperados: Latin drug lords, U.S. lawmen, and the war America can't win. [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. 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 week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in anEl Pas podcaston the progress of Colombias nascent peace process. This Is America's Enemies + Woke . [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. The cartel has also recently increased their migrant smuggling operations in border regions. [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. Trump opened a case with the FBI after the drug lord threatened to assassinate him on social media.1 This online threat came just days after El Chapo's daring escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico. [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. [1] In the late 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico. [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. [159][160] El Buda served as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking activities and shipments from Central and South America. Hypothesis of mafia ambush", "Field Report: the Netherlands as a narcostate and the emergance of a methamphetamine industry", "Cartel connection: How Mexico's drug gangs set up shop in Vancouver", "Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has reportedly teamed up with a Romanian gang to ship drugs to the UK", "Sinaloa Cartel Faction 'Los Oaxacos' and the Drug Plantations in Baja California", "Ensenada, Baja California: Leader Of "Los Oaxacos" Is Apprehended", "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller: Season 1 Episode 8: Guns", "18 Dead in CJNG vs Sinaloa Cartel Clash in Zacatecas/Jalisco Border", "Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas: Cartel del Golfo Burns Captured Combatants", "Alianza contra el Crtel de Sinaloa: confirmaron que el CJNG y La Lnea se unieron en Chihuahua", "Mexican officials warn Americans to stay away", "Sinaloa Cartel Influence is Steadily Growing in Tijuana", "El crtel de Sinaloa, una alianza de sangre", "Mexico blames Gulf cartel for surge in drug murders", "Why are the Sinaloa Cartel the World's Most Powerful Gangsters? In 2016, authorities arrested Clara Elena Laborn, a former beauty queen from Sonora state who had married Hctor Beltrn Leyva, El Chapo's former partner in the Sinaloa cartel. The state of Sinaloa has long been a center for contraband in Mexico, as well as a home for marijuana and poppy cultivation. [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. It was a telling day to bestow the measure of dishonor, a nod to the . The cartel's current leader, Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, is public enemy number one in both Mexico and the United States. [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. 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. [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. [172] Such allegations were confirmed by court documents obtained by El Universal during their investigation of collaboration with top officials from the Sinaloa cartel. They have been known to frequently use American citizens as mules, many of whom have drugs stuffed in passenger vehicles or tractor-trailers. 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. [113] In the coastal city of Mazatln, it reportedly takes as little as eight days for the precursor chemicals to move from a Pacific Ocean delivery to hidden cartel labs, then north across the U.S. "This is a city filled with drug lords," a Mexican journalist said. [95] This also ended an attempt to recruit former high-ranking Mexican drug lords Rafael and Miguel Caro Quintero as members of the Sinaloa Cartel due to the refusal of El Chapo's sons to grant them leadership status. However, the days of big cartels in Mexico may be numbered. 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. 1" of a city Guzmn has never set foot in. US pressure forced Mexican authorities to act, and the leaders of the cartel fled. [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. [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. "The Sinaloa Cartel demonstrated a tremendous ability to mobilize rapidly and take effective control of the city," says Raul Benitez, an expert on Latin America's . Vicente Zambada was responsible for coordinating multi-ton cocaine shipments from Central and South American countries, through Mexico, and into the United States for the Sinaloa Cartel. [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 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. NPR's reporters interviewed dozens of officials and ordinary people for the journalistic investigation. The capture of the Sinaloa Cartel's "El Chapo" Guzmn ignited a fight over the trial's location. Inzunza was believed to be one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's chief cartel leaders. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. [57][58] It is also frequently referred to by other non-government based media sources as one of the most powerful and feared criminal organizations in the world and indisputably the most powerful in Mexico. 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. [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. 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. 1, a maximum-security prison in the State of Mexico, through a tunnel in his prison cell. 1 nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid fentanyl . 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. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. [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]. . By the early 21st century the cartel had operations in more than 50 countries but was particularly dominant in the United States. "El Chino ntrax," was among three found Saturday inside a BMW X-5 sports utility vehicle registered to his sister, El Sol de . 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 . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.