These cartels control vast areas of the country and are also responsible for political corruption, assassinations and kidnappings. Territory: Much of the north-west. The US government has described the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the largest drug-trafficking organisations in the world. His life and vast drug-trafficking empire have been the subject of numerous books and TV series. Under his leadership, the cartel garnered a fierce reputation for violence and outfought several rival groups. Mexican cartels often clash with one another, but it's also worth noting that they can form strategic alliances as well.
The cartel kidnapped, tortured and slaughtered members of rival criminal gangs. But in July , the drug lord was sentenced to life in prison following one of the most high-profile trials in recent US history. His jailing led to an increase of violence in the region as other groups sought to take advantage. Despite this, the Sinaloa Cartel remains hugely powerful.
It still dominates north-west Mexico and is reported to have a presence in cities ranging from Buenos Aires to New York. It also continues to make billions of dollars from trafficking illicit narcotics to the US, Europe and Asia, experts say. They fought street battles with the army in broad daylight, set fire to vehicles, and even staged a prison break before their leader was eventually freed.
It was a sign the group remains an immensely powerful force. Territory: The west, mainly the Tierra Caliente region. Formed in about , the Jalisco cartel is the strongest and most aggressive competitor to the Sinaloa. The group has expanded rapidly across Mexico and is now one of the country's most dominant organised crime groups. The cartel is led by Ruben Oseguera, known as "El Mencho", a former police officer who is Mexico's most wanted man. The bounty for his capture?
The Jalisco cartel is one of the main distributors of synthetic drugs on the continent, according to the US government. It is a key player in the illegal amphetamine market in the US and Europe and is also thought to have links to the drug market in Asia.
It has grown much more powerful in recent years and its rise has been fuelled by its use of extreme violence. Indeed, the cartel has gained notoriety for a series of attacks on security forces and public officials.
It has downed an army helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, killed dozens of state officials, and has even been known to hang the bodies of its victims from bridges to intimidate its rivals. And, according to experts in the region, it is set to expand further. Territory: The north-east, centred around the border state of Tamaulipas.
This is one of Mexico's oldest criminal groups and its roots can be traced back to the s. It became known around this time for trafficking cocaine and marijuana into the US. It is also thought to have smuggled heroin and amphetamines, and it worked closely with cartels in Colombia.
By the s, the Gulf Cartel's drug trafficking operation was reportedly bringing in billions of dollars every year. It maintained this network by engaging in political corruption and bribery as a means to keep officials on side. He was captured in and jailed for life in the US.
His heir, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, built up the cartel's military wing. He recruited a number of corrupt special forces soldiers and pushed an even more violent approach. Those soldiers would eventually go rogue and form a rival cartel of their own more on this later. Cardenas was arrested in and is currently serving 25 years in jail in the US. In this last-known photo taken outside a Juarez prison in , the 5 foot 6 inch son of a poor family wears a schoolboy haircut and a disheveled puff-coat.
He has eluded capture for more than a decade. Mexico's long-running drug war — After his election in , President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels, sending the military out across the country and fired hundreds of corrupt police officers. Calderon's administration trumpets its successes, but the president is a lame duck. Term limits prohibit him from running again in A huge victory for his administration was the arrest of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman , the boss of one of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking operations, the Sinaloa cartel.
According to a July Congressional Research Service CRS report, about ,, homicides were organized crime-related from to Read More. The Mexico drug war: Bodies for billions. Major Cartels. Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa cartel.
The US Department of Justice believes it is " one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world ," and responsible for egregious violence, loss of life and increasing volumes of polydrug trafficking. Gulf Cartel - Based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, it started in It split with its enforcers, Los Zetas, by , and the fallout between the two groups had been called the "most violent in the history of organized crime in Mexico," according to a CRS report.
The cartel is now splintered into small, competing gangs. La Familia Michoacana - Based in the Michoacan state. Possibly defunct as of It announced it would disband in , but some cells are still active in Guerrero and Mexico states, according to a CRS report. Los Zetas Cartel - Comprised of former elite members of the Mexican military. Initially they worked as hit men for the Gulf Cartel, before becoming independent.
The group has a reputation for being particularly savage and is known for massacres, killing civilians, leaving body parts in public places and posting killings on the internet. The group's main asset is not drugs, but organized violence, including theft, extortion, human smuggling and kidnapping, according to a CRS report. Sinaloa Cartel - Considered to be the dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico, but some experts believe in may be in decline due to recent infighting between factions and the rise of CJNG.
It was founded and led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman , who was arrested in , escaped in July , and rearrested in January He was convicted in a US federal court in February The cartel may now be operating " with a more horizontal leadership structure than previously thought. Most of the Arellano Felix brothers have been apprehended or killed. May be regaining power due to an alignment with CJNG.
Mexican government, April February - More than 20, Mexican soldiers and federal police are spread out across Mexico as part of President Calderon's drug war. June 25, - Calderon fires federal police commanders to weed out corruption.
May 1, - Roberto Velasco Bravo, Mexico's director of investigation for organized crime, is killed in Mexico City. May 9, - The commander of Mexico City's investigative police force, Esteban Roble Espinosa, is killed outside his home. September 15, - During an independence day celebration in Morelia's town square, grenades are thrown into the crowd, killing eight people. The incident has been described as the first terrorist-style attack on innocent bystanders in Mexico's drug war.
He is the third Beltran Leyva cartel brother to be captured or killed in two years. February 25, - Cardenas Guillen, head of the Gulf Cartel until his capture in , is sentenced to 25 years in prison in Texas. May 26, - Pedro Roberto Velazquez Amador, allegedly the leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel in San Pedro, is killed in a shootout with federal forces in northern Mexico.
June 11, - Edgar Valdez Villarreal, "La Barbie," an American citizen, is charged with trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States between and July 29, - Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal, one of the leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, is killed in a military raid in Guadalajara's suburbs.
August 25, - The bodies of 72 migrants from South and Central America are discovered on a ranch in Tamaulipas state. It is believed the 58 men and 14 women were kidnapped by the Los Zetas cartel and killed for refusing to traffic drugs. August 30, - Mexican authorities announce that they have captured "La Barbie. And we live next to the world's largest arms seller, which is supplying the criminals. November 5, - Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, aka Tony Tormenta, allegedly the head of the Gulf cartel, is killed in a shootout with Mexican forces in Matamoros.
January - The Mexican government says that 34, citizens have been killed during the four-year drug war. Zapata dies and Avila survives a gunshot wound to his leg. The Los Zetas drug cartel is suspected. April - Several mass graves holding bodies are discovered in Tamaulipas, the same area where the bodies of 72 migrants were discovered in Estrada Luna has been identified by authorities as one of three prime suspects behind the mass graves discovered earlier in April.
May 8, - Twelve suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel and a member of Mexico's navy are killed in a shootout on a Falcon Lake island. Authorities say the suspected drug traffickers were storing marijuana on the island. May 29, - Ten police officers, including a police chief, are arrested on charges of protecting the Los Zetas drug cartel. The report covers 29, firearms submitted in and July 11, - The US government announces a plan to require gun dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to report the sales of semiautomatic rifles under certain conditions in an effort to stem the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels.
July 27, - Edgar Jimenez Lugo, known as "El Ponchis" or "The Cloak," a year-old American citizen with suspected drug cartel ties, is found guilty of beheading at least four people. He is sentenced to three years, the maximum for a juvenile, in a Mexican correctional facility. He is the purported leader of La Linea, the suspected armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel, and considered responsible for the death of US Consulate employee Lesley Enriquez and her husband Arthur Redelfs.
August 25, - At least 52 people are killed in an attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Mexico.
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