Cartels are dotted across Mexico, fighting turf wars and for control of drug supply – from the Sinaloa to the Gulf, here’s what to know.
The operations of cartels have fascinated and disgusted tens of millions across the globe, with high-profile kingpins like El Chapo and Pablo Escobar sparking shows like Narcos.
The drama series, nonetheless, reflects the true goings-on of the world’s deadliest organised crime gangs in Latin America.
The recent influx of violence across Mexico after the death of drug lord ‘El Mencho’ has brought cartels back into the worldwide highlight.
Here’s all to know concerning the largest and most dangerous criminal organisations on the planet.
The Jalisco Latest Generation Cartel
The Jalisco Latest Generation Cartel has hit headlines this week after its leader, Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, was assassinated.
Formed in 2009, the CJNG has grow to be known for its aggressive tactics and attacks on the military, including on helicopters.
The heavily armed group became pioneers in launching explosives from drones and installing mines in turf wars.
In 2009, battles inside one other cartel – the Milenio – fractured the guts of the organisation and led to 2 factions being formed: the ‘Resistencia’ and the ‘Torcidos’, or ‘Twisted Ones’.
The latter of the 2 eventually became what’s now generally known as the CJNG, led by former police officer El Mencho until his death this week.
Within the wake of the cartel’s creation, violence increased in Jalisco, Mexico, where the organisation operates from.
Forced disappearances, murders in broad daylight and mass graves became common because the cartel fought to defend its ‘turf’ and protect drug supplies.
CJNG has made multiple attempts to assassinate high-profile politicians, including Luis Carlos Najera and Omar Garcia Harfuch. Journalists have also been killed.
The Sinaloa Cartel
Arguably Mexico’s most infamous cartel, the Sinaloa was founded within the late Eighties by Joaquín Guzmán, generally known as El Chapo.
In 2019, he was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison in the USA, however the organisation he founded persists in Mexico.
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most important illegal drugs supplier to the USA, and is thought for kidnappings and compelled disappearances.
In recent times, Guzman’s sons have led a faction of the cartel generally known as the little Chapos, or ‘Chapitos’, that has been identified as a foremost exporter of fentanyl to the US market.
The gang’s territory can also be along the border with the USA, giving it prime spots to traffic drugs, which has helped it grow.
The cartel defends its interests in extreme ways. They kidnap, torture, execute enemies and conceal their bodies in dozens of mass graves which are dotted around their territory.
In April 2011, Mexican officials unearthed greater than 450 bodies buried in mass graves in northern states.
The Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel’s roots could be traced back to the Thirties, before exploding within the Eighties cocaine boom.
Inside just ten years, the group, formed by Juan García Abrego, was making billions every year. Their territories are based within the north-east of Mexico, in Tamaulipas.
Along with cocaine, heroin, fetanyl and marijuana smuggling, the group is thought for migrant smuggling and compelled disappearances.
Abrego was arrested in 1996, and his heir, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, was also imprisoned.
Then, in 2010, Guillen’s brother, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, took over before being killed by Mexican troops in a shootout.
Since then, the group has been at war with itself – together with other enemy cartels, just like the Los Zetas – a paramilitary group which splintered from the Gulf Cartel and grew to grow to be considered one of the country’s most dangerous.
Los Zetas Cartel
The Los Zetas cartel is a spin-off of the Gulf Cartel, having formed in 2010 after the leadership of the Gulf was killed.
The group is infamous for decapitations, in addition to kidnapping, torture and drug smuggling.
Unlike their counterparts, the Los Zetas don’t just deal with drug smuggling – they traffic illicit tobacco and humans.
They’re based within the Northeast as well, within the Tamaulipas region, and are at war with the Gulf Cartel to this present day.
In 2013, the then-leader of the Los Zetas, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, was captured by US forces.
Referred to as Z-40, he shipped large quantities of cocaine and cannabis into the US every week. He can also be accused of slaughtering a whole lot of migrants.
Trevino Morales often left the bodies of victims hanging from bridges as a warning to rivals. He usually beat victims with picket planks. Others were ‘stewed’ alive in 210-litre tanks.
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