Mexican drug cartels

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), Transnational Criminal Organization

• Primary Activities

  Drug trafficking (cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, marijuana, opium), extortion, migrant smuggling, oil and mineral theft, prostitution, weapons trade

• Key Cartels Mentioned

  Guadalajara Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel, Juarez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Sonora Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Los Zetas

• Key Leaders Mentioned

  Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, 'El Mencho', Juan García Ábrego, Aldair Mariano

• Estimated Death Toll (by 2013)

  Over 120,000 killed

• Cocaine Control (US Market, 2007)

  90%

• Estimated Missing Persons (by 2013)

  27,000

• Synthetic Drug Sale Price (per pill)

  $5-$25 USD

• Synthetic Drug Production Cost (per pill)

  $0.10 USD

• Estimated Annual Earnings (Illicit Drug Sales)

  Between $13.6 billion and $49.4 billion USD

Timeline

• The Guadalajara Cartel, the first major Mexican drug cartel, was founded by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Juan García Ábrego. (Source: Web Search Results)

  1980

• The Mexican federal law enforcement was reorganized for the first of at least five times in an attempt to control corruption and reduce cartel violence. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1982

• Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, was arrested, leading to the fragmentation of the cartel's alliances and increased warfare among high-ranking members for control of territory and trafficking routes. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1989

• The influence of Mexican drug trafficking organizations increased significantly after the demise of the Colombian Cali and Medellín cartels. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1990s

• President Felipe Calderón's administration began, and the Mexican military intervened, marking a significant escalation of the Mexican drug war. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2006-12-01

• Mexican drug cartels controlled 90% of the cocaine entering the United States. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2007

• The U.S. Congress passed legislation to provide Mexico with US$1.6 billion for the Mérida Initiative and technical advice to strengthen its national justice systems. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2008-06

• By the end of President Felipe Calderón's administration, the official death toll of the Mexican drug war was at least 60,000. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2012-11-30

• Estimates set the death toll of the Mexican drug war above 120,000 killed, not including 27,000 missing. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2013

• Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office as president and declared the war on drugs was over, a comment that was criticized as the homicide rate remained high. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018

Mexican drug war

The Mexican drug war is an ongoing asymmetric armed conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking syndicates. When the Mexican military intervened in 2006, the government's main objective was to reduce drug-related violence. The Mexican government has asserted that its primary focus is dismantling the cartels and preventing drug trafficking. The conflict has been described as the Mexican theater of the global war on drugs, as led by the United States federal government. Violence escalated after the arrest of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo in 1989. He was the leader and the co-founder of the first major Mexican drug cartel, the Guadalajara Cartel, an alliance of the current existing cartels (which included the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, and the Sonora Cartel with Aldair Mariano as the leader). After his arrest, the alliance broke, and high-ranking members formed their own cartels, fighting for control of territory and trafficking routes. Although Mexican drug trafficking organizations have existed for several decades, their influence increased after the demise of the Colombian Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. By 2007, Mexican drug cartels controlled 90% of the cocaine entering the United States. Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States. Federal law enforcement has been reorganized at least five times since 1982 in various attempts to control corruption and reduce cartel violence. During the same period, there were at least four elite special forces created as new, corruption-free soldiers who could fight Mexico's endemic bribery system. Analysts estimate wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $13.6 to $49.4 billion annually. The U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with US$1.6 billion for the Mérida Initiative and technical advice to strengthen the national justice systems. By the end of President Felipe Calderón's administration (December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2012), the official death toll of the Mexican drug war was at least 60,000. Estimates set the death toll above 120,000 killed by 2013, not including 27,000 missing. When Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office as president in 2018, he declared the war was over; his comment was criticized, as the homicide rate remains high.

Web Search Results

• Mexican drug war - Wikipedia

  The birth of most Mexican drug cartels is traced to former Mexican Judicial Federal Police agent Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (Spanish: _El Padrino_, lit.'The Godfather'), who founded the Guadalajara Cartel in 1980 and controlled most of the illegal drug trade in Mexico and the trafficking corridors across the Mexico–U.S. border along with Juan García Ábrego throughout the 1980s.( He started off by smuggling marijuana and opium into the U.S., and was the first Mexican drug chief to link up with [...] Violence escalated after the arrest of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo in 1989. He was the leader and the co-founder of the first major Mexican drug cartel, the Guadalajara Cartel, an alliance of the current existing cartels (which included the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, and the Sonora Cartel with Aldair Mariano as the leader). After his arrest, the alliance broke, and high-ranking members formed their own cartels, fighting for control of territory and trafficking [...] Although Mexican drug trafficking organizations have existed for several decades, their influence increased( after the demise of the Colombian Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. By 2007, Mexican drug cartels controlled 90% of the cocaine entering the United States.( Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States.(

• Mexico's Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels

  Mexican drug cartels are leading suppliers of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and other illicit narcotics to the United States. The cartels and the drug trade fuel rampant corruption and violence in Mexico, contributing to tens of thousands of homicides in the country each year. Since Mexico launched a war on the cartels in 2006, the United States has provided it with billions of dollars in security and counternarcotics assistance. Introduction ------------ [...] _Sinaloa Cartel._ Formerly led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Sinaloa is one of Mexico’s oldest and most powerful drug trafficking groups with considerable influence in the Mexican government and public institutions. In addition to fentanyl trafficking, the group engages in extortion, migrant smuggling, oil and mineral theft, prostitution, and the weapons trade. With strongholds in nearly half of Mexico’s states—particularly those along the Pacific coast in the northwest and near the country’s [...] Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs)—sometimes referred to as transnational criminal organizations—dominate the import and distribution of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine in the United States. Mexican suppliers are responsible for most heroin and methamphetamine production, while cocaine is largely produced in Colombia and then transported to the United States by Mexican criminal organizations. Mexico, along with China, is also a leading source of fentanyl, a

• The CJNG Cartel: An Intel Analyst's Guide for Travelers to Mexico

  For decades, the safety of Mexican citizens and visitors to Mexico has been jeopardized by the violence and coercion of warring drug cartels and gangs. While media portrayals sometimes sensationalize the threat, the reality is that cartels in Mexico are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, abductions, and other heinous crimes, making the country one of the world's most dangerous. In recent years, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, known in English as the Jalisco New Generation [...] Under the leadership of "El Mencho," the CJNG has undergone rapid growth, expanding its presence to at least 27 of Mexico's 32 states with allies nationwide. Ongoing conflicts include battles with the Sinaloa cartel for control of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, and clashes with Los Zetas and Gulf Cartel factions in central Mexico. The CJNG maintains a strong foothold in numerous states, including Jalisco, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Guanajuato, and others. [...] Global Guardian's intelligence team has insight into the impact and influence of other Mexico cartels. Review their guides to the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas cartel, as well their Risk Map of Mexico. background: WHERE DID THE Jalisco New Generation Cartel COME FROM?

• Sinaloa Cartel - InSight Crime

  The Sinaloa Cartel, considered the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is a network of some of Mexico’s most important drug lords. Members work together to protect themselves. Its many factions forged connections at the highest levels of Mexico’s federal police and military, and has bribed members of both institutions to maintain an advantage over rival organizations.

• The Expansion and Diversification of Mexican Cartels: Dynamic ...

  the premier group of that nature is the CJNG. The Mexican cartels import precursor chemicals and produce their own synthetic drugs, usually in the form of pills that cost ten cents to make and are sold for US$5–U$25 each.7 While the Mexican groups function as the CEOs in these drugs supply chains, much of the actual production is farmed out to smaller criminal groups such as the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang in Honduras and the PCC in Brazil and Bolivia.8 [...] Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel[,] … [which] are primarily responsible for driving the current illicit fentanyl and drug poisoning epidemic in the United States’.6