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's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. The cartel publicly announced its arrival in October 2015, with a narcocorrido song and a Facebook message entitled "Sinaloa is now in Colima". 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. This new "cartel" is made up of residents of . 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. The cartel has also recently increased their migrant smuggling operations in border regions. [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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the various drug cartels currently existing in Mexico, but unlike other drug cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel has lasted the longest, was titled the most powerful drug cartel in the world by the U.S. Treasury Department and developed the most sophisticated business system. The body of Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, a.k.a. [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. 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. 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. A 2020 report prepared by the Congressional Research Service says the cartel originated in . Another close associate, Javier Torres Flix, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in December 2006. 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. The article was picked up by, Our coverage of the arrest of Chapitos co-founder Ovidio Guzmn Lpez in Mexico has received worldwide attention.In the UK, outlets includingThe IndependentandBBC. 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 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). [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. The corrupt cops allegedly had a deal that entitled them to half the value of any drug shipment taken from an opposing cartel thanks to their information. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He was arrested by the Mexican Army on 18 March 2009, and extradited on 18 February 2010, to Chicago to face federal charges. [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. 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. He claimed that the Sinaloa Cartel influenced the Mexican government and military to gain control of the region. "We have 20 'El Chapos' here." El Mayo was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for El Chapo after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001. This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in anEl Pas podcaston the progress of Colombias nascent peace process. 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. This Is America's Enemies + Woke . [155], The Sinaloa Cartel has operations in the Philippines as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. 17. [202] Guzmn had a close call in early October 2015, several days after the meeting with Penn and Kate del Castillo. However, after the cartel was involved in the 1985 torture and murder of a U.S. drug . YouTube. Their leaders included Rafael Caro Quintero, Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo. The drug war has spread to various regions of Mexico, such as Guerrero, Mexico City, Michoacn and Tamaulipas. Cartel operatives say it's 'actually the opposite. 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. Re: Sinaloa Cartel has Infiltrated Arizona Government- Kari Lake Victory Stolen. In the 1960s and 1970s, they moved from the contraband trade into drugs, particularly marijuana. Corrections? 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. 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. 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. The cartels purportedly exploit weak points in the regulatory efforts of authorities in legal industries to facilitate production of the drug. 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 expanded rapidly 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 also involved in the trafficking of. These Special Forces-trained cartel members had recently demanded to be transferred. He is the only individual to receive the title since Al Capone. [150] Chicago continues to be a major Sinaloa distribution point for the Midwest, taking advantage of a strong local demand market and convergence of several major interstate systems that offer distribution throughout the US. Allies and Enemies. Our work is costly and high risk. [68] In San Diego County, the amount of fentanyl intercepted by US Customs and Border Protection rose from 1,599 pounds in 2019 to more than 6,700 pounds in 2021. "El Chino ntrax," was among three found Saturday inside a BMW X-5 sports utility vehicle registered to his sister, El Sol de . [173][174], Statements from a Mexican diplomat, which were revealed from leaked emails from the Stratfor leak in 2012, appeared to imply the belief amongst Mexican officials that US officials were assisting the Sinaloa cartel's drug smuggling efforts into the US and were protecting the cartel while attacking its rivals in an attempt to lower violence between Mexican drug cartels; this was backed up by information provided by a Mexican foreign agent, codenamed MX1. [172] Such allegations were confirmed by court documents obtained by El Universal during their investigation of collaboration with top officials from the Sinaloa cartel. 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. [citation needed] Another source in the story was the U.S. trial of Manuel Fierro-Mendez, an ex-Juarez police captain who admitted to working for the Sinaloa Cartel. 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. However, El Licenciado and his son, Damso Lpez Serrano, alias Mini Lic, have both been, . Members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) record themselves with prisoners from a rival cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Sinaloa, Mexico. [65], According to a 2019 DEA report, it is estimated that each fentanyl pill costs only $1 to produce. 1. ", "La segunda fuga de Joaqun 'el Chapo' Guzmn ya tiene dos narcocorridos", "De Lupillo Rivera a Regulo los corridos sobre la fuga de 'El Chapo', "12 narcos y sus corridos (Canciones de sangre, violencia y crimen)", "11 narcocorridos que inspir Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn", "The Game y Skrillex acaban de lanzar una cancin dedicada al Chapo", "No slo corridos, 'El Chapo' tambin tiene su hip hop", "Kate del Castillo: Meet the Star Playing a Big Part in El Chapo's Real-Life Drama", "El Chapo Guzman: Extradition to US could take 'at least year', "El Chapo Guzmn, 'World's Most Powerful Drug Trafficker,' Receives Special Request From Mexican Actress, Kate Del Castillo", Sean Penn Met With El Chapo for Interview in His Hide-Out, "The Manhunt for the Drug Kingpin El Chapo", "Sean Penn interview helped locate drug lord", "Cellphone Signals Suggest 'El Chapo' Hid in Mexican Mountains: Sources", "Ben Warheit's McRib Monologue Won Late Night This Week", Tourists evacuated following shootout between Mexican army and drug hitmen, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera on America's Most Wanted, Jose EspinozaThe "Leonardo da Vinci" of the Sinaloa Cartel, Why Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel Loves Selling Drugs in Chicago, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sinaloa_Cartel&oldid=1142329266, The Sinaloa Cartel has in both recent and past times; most often been the primary, The organization has become the subject of several documentaries, such as.