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. [47] Local state and government crackdowns on these farms however has pushed much of the opioid market in the direction of synthetics like fentanyl which can be made far more covertly. As shown by image 2 Ejido Tampico, from 1970 to 2000, the occupied land at the Tijuana airport remained relatively undeveloped. Given that El Chapo's conviction in the United States in 2019. of the cartel's operations while it retains its horizontal structure. Divisions participating in Project Wave Breaker are credited with 85% of all synthetic opioids seized by the DEA in 2020. Chapo was famously recaptured, then escaped from prison, then recaptured in Mexico once again in 2016, only adding to his criminal legend. By 2006, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated all competition across the 528km of the Arizona border. In 2014 Guzmn was apprehended in Mazatln, Sinaloa, Mexico, but the following year he escaped from prison through a tunnel. [151][152][153], In 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission named Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmn "Public Enemy No. Its origins can be traced to the Guadalajara cartel, which was one of Mexico's largest crime organizations in the early 1980s. The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Crtel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmn-Zambada Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering. The formation of El Mencho's new cartel was announced to the world in a violent public display with grisly spectacles eventually becoming the group's trademark. The Sinaloa Cartel used to be known as La Alianza de Sangre ("Blood Alliance"). [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. However, Mexican officials believe Posadas just happened to be caught in cross fire. Updates? The Sinaloa Cartel has historically operated in the "Golden Triangle", the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua. Along with the captured suspects, 16 assault rifles, 3 grenades, 102 magazines and 3,543 rounds of ammunition were seized. One of these cartels (called plazas at the time) was Sinaloa, with the city of Culiacn acting as its headquarters. Police stand guard behind a parapet of sandbags, at the entrance to Santa Rosa de Lima, birthplace of a local cartel that goes by the same name, in Guanajuato state, Mexico on Feb. 12, 2020. The CDS is also battling La Linea teamed with the CJNG in Ciudad Juarez. 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. [159][160] El Buda served as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking activities and shipments from Central and South America. This growing of the organization as well as the killing of Rasquia and the increasing importance of Ecuador in the illegal cocaine trade has given way to the recent crime waves in the region. 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. A U.S. jury has convicted a former Mexican presidential cabinet member of taking massive bribes to protect the drug cartels he was tasked with combating, A key prosecution witness has testified he delivered millions of dollars in payoffs destined for former Mexican public safety chief Genaro Garca Luna and saw him leave with the bags of cash. The Sinaloa Cartel's central bond is blood. Both were associated with the Sinaloa Cartel. The companies; Corporativo y Enlace Ram, Corporativo Escomexa, and Grupo Pochteca allegedly imported key substances like 4-Anilino-N-phenethyl-4-piperidine, propionyl, chloride, and aniline from India and other Asian countries. According to reports at the time, it was responsible for the majority of illegal drugsnotably marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetaminesthat were smuggled from Mexico into its northern neighbour, and in 2015 U.S. officials claimed that Sinaloa controlled the drug markets in almost every state. By Kristina Davis. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. 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. [178] The BBC also reported on Vicente Zambada Niebla's claims of immunity from prosecution under a deal between the Mexican and US governments and his claims that the Sinaloa Cartel's leaders had provided US federal agents with information about rival Mexican drug gangs. The Sinaloa Cartel's central bond is blood. [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. Sinaloa notably gained territory from both the Tijuana and Jurez cartels, solidifying its position as one of the worlds most-powerful drug syndicates. After a few days of the state elections of June 6, a war in the Golden Triangle, which is made up of a new cartel that entered the area and is contesting the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. [25] The geographic presence of Mexican cartels in Colombia seems to directly coincide with areas where coca crops are more abundant or with strategic narcotrafficking corridors: the Pacific coast of Nario, Catatumbo, Bajo Cauca in Antioquia, Norte del Cauca, and Magdalena.[25]. For some time it was allied with El Chapo's Sinaloa, but since his capture his Sinaloa cartel has been usurped by New Generation as the most powerful in Mexico. Barron had received intelligence that Guzmn would be arriving in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car. [116][117], According to the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit in Mexico City, as of 2020 the cartel has palpable territory within the Mexican regions of Sinaloa, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Durango, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Edomex, Mexico City, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Colima, Aguascalientes, Quertaro, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatn and Quintana Roo. But instead, even more so than the Zetas a decade ago and far more so than its principal rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG relishes acting as a de facto nonstate army. [59][60], According to the National Drug Intelligence Center and other sources, within the U.S. the Sinaloa Cartel is primarily involved in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, cannabis and MDMA. An inside look at Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. 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 Sinaloa organization also now participates directly in coca cultivation and production in Colombia. This Is America's Enemies + Woke . The Sinaloa Cartel is not a hierarchical structure. 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. [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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. ', "Why the Jalisco Cartel Does Not Dominate Mexico's Criminal Landscape", "Mexico nabs son of drug lord 'El Chapo' before Biden visit", "After months of "internal war", el Mayo Zambada lost control of the Sinaloa Cartel to the children of el Chapo", "Rumors Allege That CDS Has Called a Truce in the Chapitos vs Mayo War", "Dismembered Torso Placed Near Jalisco - Colima Border", "Dispute Breaks Out For Control Of Maritime Traffic In Guatemala And Peru Between CDS And CJNG", "Jalisco Cartel Sets Off Alarm Bells Along Mexico-Guatemala Border", "CJNG Fighting CDS for Teocaltiche, Jalisco", "Reconceptualizing the Illegal Narcotics Trade and Its Effect on the Colombian and the Mexican State", "United States of America v. Felipe de Jesus Corona Verbera", "Sinaloa Cartel Succession in Mexico: More Political Intrigue than Violence", "Mexican Drug Cartels: Government Progress and Growing Violence", Major Mexican Drug Trafficker's Assets in U.S. The Arellano Flix brothers set up camp in Tijuana. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. [citation needed]. The body of Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, a.k.a. 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 2012, the cartel emerged victorious from a bloody battle with the Juarez Cartel over control of Ciudad Juarez. El Mayo) particularly due to his exceptional ability to work with and coordinate with other traffickers. NPR's reporters interviewed dozens of officials and ordinary people for the journalistic investigation. El Cholo formed his own gang, the "Nueva Plaza Cartel," financially supported by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of CJNG's biggest enemies. [159][160], On 25 February 2009, the U.S. government announced the arrest of 750 members of the Sinaloa Cartel across the U.S. in Operation Xcellerator. The Sinaloa Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Sinaloa, Mexico. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from the Federal Social Readaption Center No. El Chapo is in prison, but Sinaloa cartel remains strong. The message heralded the launch of "Operation . The cartel publicly announced its arrival in October 2015, with a narcocorrido song and a Facebook message entitled "Sinaloa is now in Colima". Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox. 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. In the mountains of Mexico's northern . The western Mexican state of Sinaloa is home to the country's most powerful and bloody drug cartel. During the leadership of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn and Ismael Zambada Garca, the multi-billion dollar international drug trafficking empire supposedly controlled at least 91% of the world's heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana trade, regularly exporting multi-ton shipments of narcotics to the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. [141][142] On 21 June 2017, Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn's "girlfriend" and former legislator of the state of Sinaloa, Lucero Guadalupe Snchez Lpez, was arrested at the Tijuana airport's Cross Border Xpress by CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) officers as she crossed into the U.S. She was charged with drug conspiracy and money laundering, and had been with Joaqun Guzmn when he escaped capture in 2014. [25], Pedro Avils Prez was a pioneer drug lord in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in the late 1960s. Taco Star was noted as suspicious due to payments of more than $200,000 to El Potosino. One report quotes a former Juarez police commander who claimed the entire department was working for the Sinaloa Cartel and helping it to fight other groups. This would make it less likely the whole organization would be brought down all at once. El Chapo maintained some control from prison, passing messages through his lawyers. 1 nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid fentanyl . CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels: Competing or Collaborating? [65], According to a 2019 DEA report, it is estimated that each fentanyl pill costs only $1 to produce. They were, in essence, a small group of farming families that lived in rural parts of the state. The boldness of the Mexican traffickers became evident when they murdered undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena in 1985. 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. [144] At this time the organization was laundering money at global scale, mainly through British bank HSBC. 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. The Sinaloa Cartel has since created new alliances with former enemies in theGulf Carteland theFamilia Michoacanaand appears to have negotiated a pact with what remains of theTijuana Cartel. [79], Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo, who co-founded the Guadalajara Cartel between 1978 and 1980, from then on; controlled much of Mexico's drug-trafficking corridors along the United States border throughout the 1980s, only to be rivaled by the Gulf Cartel which controlled some of eastern Mexico's drug trade. While the Sinaloa Cartel remains under the leadership of Zambada Garca, its local bosses have broad decision-making power, which makes it difficult to estimate how much of an overall toll this violence has had on the group. According to court documents, the DEA had struck agreements with the cartel's leadership that would ensure that they would be immune from extradition and prosecution in the US and would avoid disrupting the cartel's drug operations in exchange for intelligence which could be used against other drug cartels. In 2001, he escaped prison, and assumed a central leadership role in the organization. This week, InSight Crimes Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. In August 2021, a single multi-ton cocaine shipment was seized off the coast of Ecuador causing a string of killings in the aftermath. [58][84][15] Following the discovery of a tunnel system used to smuggle drugs across the Mexican/US border, the group has been associated with such means of trafficking. On 8 November 1992, Palma struck out against the Tijuana Cartel at a disco club in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where eight Tijuana Cartel members were killed in the shootout, the Arellano-Flix brothers successfully escaping from the location with the assistance of David Barron Corona, a member of the Logan Heights Gang. This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in anEl Pas podcaston the progress of Colombias nascent peace process. said the Sinaloa Cartel at one time slaughtered more . Since then, the cartel has extended its reach across the whole of Mexico, aside from the areas controlled by the Sinaloa cartel. The cartels purportedly exploit weak points in the regulatory efforts of authorities in legal industries to facilitate production of the drug. The cartel's loss of partners in Mexico does not appear to have affected its ability to smuggle drugs from South America to the USA. [citation needed] As of November 2022, the Chapitos and Zambada factions are rumored to have reconciled their recent differences in order to come together to battle the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. On 11 July 2015 "El Chapo" escaped from a maximum security prison, which is his second successful jailbreak from a maximum security facility in 14 years. 1. It was a telling day to bestow the measure of dishonor, a nod to the . In the 1960s and 1970s, they moved from the contraband trade into drugs, particularly marijuana. This has predictably resulted in a surge of accidental overdose deaths in the U.S.[65][66][67] Additionally, the city of San Diego in Southern California has reportedly now become America's epicenter for fentanyl trafficking according to some federal officials, as reported by local news. It also appears to be most active in diversifying its export markets; rather than relying solely on U.S. drug consumption, it has made an effort to supply distributors of drugs in Latin American and European countries.[90]. Perhaps they were connected to a rival gang, or didn't do their jobs correctly. [205] The raid on the ranch was met with heavy gunfire and Guzmn was able to flee. In particular, the report claimed the government was helping the Sinaloa Cartel to take control of the Juarez Valley area and destroy other cartels, especially the Juarez Cartel. The latest family member to escape apprehension El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzmn Lpez managed his own feat of government humiliation this week, when cartel henchmen forced a patrol of at . [65] In recent times fentanyl in Mexico has sometimes, haphazardly been referred to as Mexican oxy or even synthetic heroin. After the breakaway of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) in 2008, El Chapo became the most visible head of the Sinaloa Cartel, although he was joined at the top table by El Mayo and Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, alias "El Azul." [155], The Sinaloa Cartel has operations in the Philippines as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. 17. He is linked to various homicides, among them the lawyer Rubn Alejandro Cepeda Leos, who was assassinated on 20 December 2011, in the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. However, El Licenciado and his son, Damso Lpez Serrano, alias Mini Lic, have both been arrested and are now in US custody. [125][126] It was five times longer than the Agua Prieta-Douglas tunnel and became the first of a series of drug "super tunnels" in Otay Mesa originating in and around the Tijuana airport through the former Ejido Tampico. The Sinaloa cartel chief Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn was captured for the final time in January 2016. Sinaloa cartel, international crime organization that is among the most-powerful drug-trafficking syndicates in the world. The Enemies of My Enemy; Los Pepes; Deutschland 93; Exit El Patrn; Nuestra Finca; Al Fin . 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. [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. Although Colombia, Bolivia and Peru have traditionally been the most notable South American countries in the cocaine trade, in recent times; Venezuela as well as Ecuador have stepped up their involvement in the trade, with the Venezuelan organization Cartel of the Suns poising concern to authorities abroad as well as the increase in the size of recent cocaine seizures in Ecuador. One of the first to traffic marijuana in bulk was Pedro Aviles, who later brought his friend's son, Joaqun Guzmn Loera, alias "El Chapo," into the business. Drug enforcement experts estimate, conservatively, that the cartel's annual revenues exceed $3 billion: more than those of the . [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. [206][207] The two women were later revealed to be Guzmn's personal chefs, who had traveled with him to multiple safe houses. Even with El Chapo in jail for life, the Sinaloa Cartel has remained one of Mexico's most powerful organized crime groups. Drug busts in DC area, 7 states linked to Sinaloa cartel; drugs, guns, $5.4 million seized. Inzunza was believed to be one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's chief cartel leaders. It has cells in more than 70 cities in the U.S. from Seattle to Miami . Here is the fuk up thing. The country's overcrowded prison system and the COVID-19 pandemic has apparently dominated much of the government's attention and focus recently, thus allowing the gang to more easily grow and consolidate power. 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.