Sinaloa Cartel

, Sinaloa, a historical stronghold for the cartel Avilés criminal organization Pedro Avilés Pérez was a pioneer drug lord in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in the late 1960s. He is considered to be, along with Vicente Carrillo Leyva, the first generation of major Mexican drug smugglers of cannabis (marijuana) who marked the birth of large-scale Mexican drug trafficking. He also pioneered the use of aircraft to smuggle drugs to the United States. Second generation Sinaloan traffickers such as Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Ismael Zambada García and Avilés Pérez' nephew Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán would claim they learned all they knew about 'narcotraficantes' while serving in the Avilés organization. Pedro Avilés would eventually die in a shootout with federal police in September 1978 in Sinaloa. Félix Gallardo divided up his "Federation" by 1987, just two years after the capture and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar when the threat from American law enforcement became much more pressing. This division of the organization in the late 1980s led to the cartel essentially being made up of several smaller cartels that controlled their own territories and trafficking corridors with their own bosses. This would make it less likely that the whole organization would be brought down all at once. One of these cartels (called plazas at the time) was Sinaloa, with the city of Culiacán acting as its headquarters. In the late 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico. Gallardo was eventually arrested in 1989 and, while incarcerated, he remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining contact with his organization via mobile phone until he was transferred to a new maximum security prison in the early 1990s. At that point his nephews, the Arellano Félix brothers, left and further solidified the organization which came to be known as the Tijuana Cartel, while the Sinaloa Cartel continued to be run by former lieutenants Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, Juan Jose Esparragoza and Joaquín Guzmán Loera. By the mid-1990s, according to one court opinion, the Sinaloa organization was believed to be the size of the Medellín Cartel during its prime. The Sinaloa Cartel was therefore believed to be linked to the Juárez Cartel in a strategic alliance following the partnership of their rivals, the Gulf Cartel and Tijuana Cartel. 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. The war between the Sinaloa and Tijuana cartels was supposedly at its worst from 1992 to the year 2000 with family members of some of the cartel's leaders living in fear or "everyday like it was their last", as stated by Zambada's wife at the time. However, Zambada also used this conflict to his advantage since the Mexican government began to crack down primarily on the Tijuana Cartel, Mayo used this weakening of his rivals as an opportunity for Sinaloa to step up in the trafficking world. By around the year 2000, Zambada became recognized as one of the biggest and most powerful drug lords in Mexico, having built strong distribution networks from Colombia to the United States. ''Mayo's traditional major distribution hubs were allegedly in Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Denver. El Mayo was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for El Chapo'' after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001. The Sinaloa Cartel was partially splintered in 2008 when the Beltrán-Leyva brothers broke apart from the cartel. The cardinal arrived at the airport in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car, known to be popular amongst drug barons. Barron had received intelligence that Guzmán would be arriving in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car. Dominance and interfactional conflict By 2005, the Beltrán-Leyva brothers, who were formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, had come to dominate drug trafficking across the border with Arizona. By 2006, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated all competition across the of the Arizona border. The Milenio (Michoacán), Jalisco (Guadalajara), Sonora (Sonora), and Colima cartels were now branches of the Sinaloa Cartel. At this time the organization was laundering money at global scale, mainly through British bank HSBC. In January 2008 the cartel allegedly split into several warring factions, which caused a major uptick in drug violence in Mexico. Murders by the cartel often involved beheadings or bodies dissolved in vats of acid and were sometimes filmed and posted on the Internet as a warning to rival gangs. Before his arrest, Vicente Zambada Niebla ("El Vicentillo"), son of Ismael Zambada García ("El Mayo"), played a key role in the Sinaloa Cartel. Vicente Zambada was responsible for coordinating multi-ton cocaine shipments from Central and South American countries, through Mexico, and into the United States for the Sinaloa Cartel. To accomplish this task, he used every means available: Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, narco-submarines, container ships, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor-trailers, and automobiles. He was arrested by the Mexican Army on 18 March 2009 and extradited on 18 February 2010 to Chicago to face federal charges. He filed a guilty plea agreement and agreed to cooperate with the government on 8 November 2018. As of 2013, the Sinaloa Cartel continued to dominate the Sonora-Arizona corridor, which extends for nearly . It relies on eight "plaza" bosses, leaders of a specific geographic region along the corridor, to coordinate, direct, and support the flow of narcotics north into the United States. Key cities along the corridor include the Mexicali plaza, San Luis Rio Colorado plaza, Sonoyta plaza, Nogales plaza, and the Agua Prieta plaza. The Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan areas are major trans-shipment and distribution points for the cartel in the US. To coordinate operations in the southeast US, Atlanta has emerged as a major distribution center and accounting hub, and the presence of the Sinaloa Cartel there has brought ruthless violence to that area. 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. 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 U.S. and Mexico like HSBC. In 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission named Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmán "Public Enemy No. 1" of a city Guzmán has never set foot in. He is the only individual to receive the title since Al Capone. The focal point for Sinaloa in Chicago is the city's "Little Village" neighborhood. From this strategic point, the cartel distributes its product at the wholesale level to dozens of local street gangs, as much as 2 metric tons a month, in a city with over 117,000 documented gang members. The Gangster Disciples are one of the local gangs most actively working with the cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel has operations in the Philippines as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. Since 2013, the cartel has been operating in the Philippines after a raid on a ranch in Lipa, Batangas, according to a statement by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Arthur Cacdac, and has entered the country without notice. President Rodrigo Duterte further confirmed the presence of the Sinaloa Cartel in the Philippines, saying that the cartel uses the country as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. The presence of the cartel in the Philippines has worsened the ongoing war between drug lords, drug cartels and the government in that country. On 4 July 2019, Juan Ulises Galván Carmona, alias "El Buda", was killed by two hit men in a convenience store in Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo state, along Mexico's Caribbean coast. Edgar Valdez Villarreal Los Negros have been known to employ gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha to carry out murders and other illegal activities. The group is involved in fighting in the Nuevo Laredo region for control of the drug trafficking corridor. Following the 2003 arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, it is believed the Sinaloa Cartel moved 200 men into the region to battle the Gulf Cartel for control. Arrests and seizures 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. They also announced the seizure of more than $59 million in cash and numerous vehicles, planes, and boats. In March 2009, the Mexican Government announced the deployment of 1,000 Federal Police officers and 5,000 Mexican Army soldiers to restore order in Ciudad Juárez, which has suffered the highest number of casualties in the country. On 20 August 2009, the DEA broke up a large Mexican drug operation in Chicago and uncovered a major distribution network operated by the Flores crew, led by twin brothers Margarito and Pedro Flores, that operated there. The drug operation allegedly brought of cocaine every month to Chicago from Mexico and shipped millions of dollars south of the border. The shipments were mostly bought from the Sinaloa Cartel and at times from the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, and it is assumed that both cartels threatened the Flores crew with violence if they bought from other rival drug organizations. On 11 May 2010, Alfonso Gutiérrez Loera, cousin of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, and 5 other drug traffickers were arrested after a shootout with Federal Police officers in Culiacan, Sinaloa. Along with the captured suspects, 16 assault rifles, 3 grenades, 102 magazines, and 3,543 rounds of ammunition were seized. and is believed to be responsible for the death of the activist Nepomuceno Moreno. Jesús Alfredo Salazar Ramírez was arrested on 1 November 2012, in the municipality of Huixquilucan, by military personnel working with the Mexican Attorney General's office (PGR). "El Muñeco" is considered to be one of the most important lieutenants of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, evident from his control of the planting, production, and trafficking of drugs in Sonora and in the mountains of Chihuahua, which were sent predominantly to the US. He is linked to various homicides, among them the lawyer Rubén Alejandro Cepeda Leos, who was assassinated on 20 December 2011, in the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. According to the Sedena, he is the assumed assassin of activist Nepomuceno Moreno Núñez, who was 28 November 2011. Nepomuceno Moreno was an activist who sought justice for the disappearance of his son and joined the Mexican Indignados Movement, led by the poet Javier Sicilia. José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa (alias "Chino Antrax") was a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was a leader and founding member of Los Ántrax, an armed squadron formed to protect Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García, founding member of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was arrested on 30 December 2013, at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, at the petition of the United States of America, and with the help of Interpol, on charges related to drug trafficking. 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. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. The reports also demonstrated the cartels possess the ability to establish operations in previously unknown areas, such as Central America and South America, even as far south as Peru, Paraguay, and Argentina. 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. In February 2014, "El Chapo" Guzmán was arrested. The capture of the Sinaloa Cartel's "El Chapo" Guzmán ignited a fight over the trial's location. Calls for his extradition to the United States started just hours after his arrest. Guzmán also faces federal indictment in several locations, including San Diego, New York, and Texas, among other places. 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. 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. ==Hierarchy==

in early 2008 The Sinaloa Cartel used to be known as La Alianza de Sangre ("Blood Alliance"). The Sinaloa Cartel is "a confederation of criminal organizations based on regional culture, and deep, shared blood ties that have been generated during decades of endogenous practice." Structure The Cipher Brief identified the CDS's international success as largely being due to a horizontal system of organization as opposed to the top-down hierarchy employed by many of its rivals. Having decentralized to expand abroad, as well as to allow itself to "[survive] brutal attacks by rival cartels and the capture of its most prominent leader, Chapo Guzman," the cartel's use of this strategy was compared to the semi-autonomous networks of subsidies and local branches used by many legitimate franchises; "Authority for decision-making flows across various components rather than moving downward in a formal chain of command." Leadership When Héctor Luis Palma Salazar was arrested on 23 June 1995 by the Mexican Army, his partner Joaquín Guzmán Loera took leadership of the cartel. Guzmán was captured in Guatemala on 9 June 1993 and extradited to Mexico, where he was jailed in a maximum security prison, but on 19 January 2001, Guzmán escaped and resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán has two close associates, Ismael Zambada García and Ignacio Coronel Villareal. Guzman and Zambada became Mexico's top drug kingpins in 2003, after the arrest of their rival Osiel Cárdenas Guillén of the Gulf Cartel. Another close associate, Javier Torres Félix, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in December 2006. On 29 July 2010, Ignacio Coronel was killed in a shootout with the Mexican military in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guzmán was captured on 22 February 2014 overnight by American and Mexican authorities. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from the Federal Social Readaption Center No. 1, a maximum-security prison in the State of Mexico, through a tunnel in his prison cell. Guzmán resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel; however, on 8 January 2016, Guzmán was captured again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzmán's home state of Sinaloa. With the arrest of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Ismael Zambada has assumed most of the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. On 24 June 2020, Zambada was revealed to be "sick with diabetes", which reportedly gave ''El Chapo's'' sons more influence over the Sinaloa Cartel. Under Zambada's leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel had been willing to negotiate potential leadership for the Caro Quintero brothers due to their histories as bosses in the predecessor organization. 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. At the time of his arrest on 5 January 2023, El Chapo son Ovidio Guzmán was believed to be the leader of the cartel's Chapitos faction. Co-founder and leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of El Chapo, were arrested by U.S. authorities in El Paso, Texas, on 25 July 2024. ==Operations==

Of illicit substances, the cartel's operations seem to mostly favor the trade of cocaine and opioids, particularly in a distribution hub like Chicago, where demand for methamphetamine is relatively low. According to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008. However, during the second wave of America's opioid epidemic in the mid-2010s, which was driven largely by heroin, the prevalence and trafficking of fentanyl began to increase exponentially, leading to the epidemic's third wave and eventually turning it into the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history. Additionally, around 2014 a measurable rise in Colombian cocaine production and global consumption began to increase annually up to the present, currently marking a new high-point for the global use of cocaine. The cartel appears to still have major methamphetamine operations in cities throughout the U.S., such as in San Diego and Atlanta. The CDS as well as other large Mexican cartels have set up major cannabis (marijuana) growing operations in the remote forests and deserts of California. Territory and presence According to the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit in Mexico City, 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, Querétaro, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, as of 2020. Sinaloa Due to the leadership of the organization essentially being split between the Mayo Zambada and Los Chapitos factions of the cartel, much of the state of Sinaloa is also split territorially. Within Sinaloa, the municipalities of El Fuerte, Badiraguato, Mocorito, Angostura, Navolato, Concordia, Rosario, Escuinapa, and half of Culiacán are controlled by Los Chapitos, while San Ignacio, Elota, and the other half of the Culiacán municipality are reportedly controlled by Mayo. The municipalities of Cosala and Mazatlán are said to have more than one group controlling the territory as well as some of the northern regions of the state, which are purportedly partially controlled by the Beltrán-Leyva Organization. International Despite its measured and challenged presence in Mexico, the Federation is also well-known for its widespread international presence as well as its many transnational criminal operations and partners. Locations outside Mexico include Latin America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina), the Anglo-Caribbean region (Belize, Guyana), Canada (British Columbia, Eastern Canada) the United States (primarily the Southwest, Southern and parts of the Mid-Atlantic) and recently in the Pacific (New Zealand, Australia, and imports of raw products/chemicals from China) as drug prices for methamphetamine and cocaine tend to be higher in the Pacific than in the United States. Tijuana Airport/Drug Super Tunnels In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel dug its first drug tunnel between a house in Agua Prieta, Sonora to a warehouse located in Douglas, Arizona. The tunnel was discovered in May 1990. Following the discovery by U.S. Customs and Mexican Federal Police, the Sinaloa Cartel began to focus their smuggling operations towards Tijuana and Otay Mesa, San Diego where it acquired a warehouse in 1992. After the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and six others at the Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993, the gunmen boarded a commercial jet. When the jet landed at the Tijuana airport, both police and military units failed to cordon off the aircraft, and the gunmen escaped. On 31 May 1993, Mexican federal agents searching for the gunmen found a partially completed tunnel adjacent to the Tijuana airport, crossing under the U.S.-Mexico border to a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego. 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). The tunnel was described by the DEA in San Diego as the "Taj Mahal" of drug tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border and was linked to Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán. 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 "super tunnels" were equipped with power, ventilation, and rail tracks to allow the efficient movement of large loads of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. As seen on image 1 Drug tunnel corridors, the close proximity of the former Ejido Tampico to the Tijuana airport and U.S.-Mexico border made it an ideal staging area for smuggling operations into the United States. The Mexican government's conflict with the former Ejido Tampico dated back to 1970, when they expropriated of the Ejido Tampico to build a new runway and passenger terminal at the Tijuana airport and agreed to pay the displaced ejidatarios (the communal farmers) $1.4 million pesos ($112,000 U.S. dollars in 1970). When the Mexican government failed to indemnify the ejidatarios for their lost farmland, they reoccupied a portion of the Tijuana airport and threatened armed conflict. As shown by image 2 Ejido Tampico, from 1970 to 2000, the occupied land at the Tijuana airport remained relatively undeveloped. In 1999, the Tijuana airport was privatized and became part of a 12-airport network known as Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (Pacific Airport Group). In an attempt to resolve the dispute and remove the ejidatarios from the privatized Tijuana airport, the Mexican government established a value on the expropriated at $1.2 million pesos ($125,560 U.S. dollars in 1999) while the ejidatarios of the former Ejido Tampico taking into account the increase in property values from 1970 to 1999 and the privatization of the Tijuana airport established a commercial value on their lost land at $2.8 billion pesos ($294 million U.S. dollars). In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolve the issue, also failed. As shown image 2 Ejido Tampico comparison between 2000 and 2006, the ejidatarios then proceeded to commercially develop the area at the Tijuana airport by leasing buildings and parcels to trucking and storage companies. As shown by image 3 Drug Trafficking Tunnel, in 2006, the unpermitted development allowed the building of a drug "super tunnel" originating from the former Ejido Tampico and adjacent to the Tijuana airport's runway. As prior drug tunnels, it crossed under the U.S.-Mexico border into a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego with the capacity to move multi-ton loads of narcotics. In 2011, at the westerly end of the Tijuana airport a drug "super tunnel" was discovered dug under the airport's 10/28 runway from a warehouse located from Mexico's 12th Military Air Base and from a Mexican Federal Police station. 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. In December 2016, one month prior Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Loera's extradition to the U.S., two "super tunnels", one in operation while the other was under construction, were discovered by Mexican agents adjacent to the Tijuana airport/Ejido Tampico and the Otay Mesa border crossing. Both were associated with the Sinaloa Cartel. On 21 June 2017, Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's "girlfriend" and former legislator of the state of Sinaloa, Lucero Guadalupe Sánchez López, 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 Joaquín Guzmán when he escaped capture in 2014. Cartel allies In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel were traditionally considered allies but as of 2021, this alliance has reportedly fizzled out as the two groups now battle each other in the state of Zacatecas with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) now siding with the Gulf to fight against Sinaloa. The CDS was battling La Linea, teamed with the CJNG, in Ciudad Juárez. But it was not until 2024, after the fall of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, allegedly caused by his former partners Los Chapitos, derived from that an internal dispute occurred within the cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel has also made alliances with other gangs within the regions it operates. Domestically, the cartel's sub-groups and allies are known to consist of Los Ántrax (enforcer unit), Grupo Flechas, Los Cabrera (armed wing), Los Rusos (Zambada faction), Los Chapitos (Guzmán faction), Los Mexicles, Los Salazares (trafficking cell in Sonora), Sonora Cartel, Colima Cartel, Gente Nueva (armed wing), Juarez Cartel and La Barredora, while international alliances are thought to include Crips, Cártel del Noreste (in Zacatecas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cárteles Unidos, La Familia Michoacana, Los Dámasos (armed wing), Independent Cartel of Nuevo León, Los Rastrojos, Paraguaná Cartel, Cachiros, Choneros, National Liberation Army, Fernando Pineda-Jimenez Organization, Mexican Mafia, Moroccan mafia, Serbian mafia, Kinahan Organised Crime Group, Independent Soldiers, Irish mob, Hells Angels (denied by HAMC), Chechen mafia, Albanian mafia, Romanian mafia, Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta. The Sinaloa Federation has also formed alliances with two powerful Chinese triads, Sun Yee On and the 14K Triad, to acquire the precursor chemicals needed in creating highly-addictive synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, and now, likely fentanyl. Operatives like local gangs pick up the chemicals from dropoff points and ship them to hidden labs. The resulting products are shipped to the United States and many South American countries. Chinese transnational criminal groups also launder money at scale for the cartel. 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. Alleged collusion with Mexican federal forces In May 2009, the U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) aired multiple reports alleging that the Mexican federal police and military were working in collusion with the Sinaloa Cartel. 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. NPR's reporters interviewed dozens of officials and ordinary people for the journalistic investigation. 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. He also claimed that the Sinaloa Cartel had bribed the military. Also quoted was a Mexican reporter who claimed to have heard numerous times from the public that the military had been involved in murders. 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. He claimed that the Sinaloa Cartel influenced the Mexican government and military to gain control of the region. A DEA agent in the same trial alleged that Fierro-Mendez had contacts with a Mexican military officer. The report also alleged, with support from an anthropologist who studies drug trafficking, that data on the low arrest rate of Sinaloa Cartel members (compared to other groups) was evidence of favoritism on the part of the authorities. A Mexican official denied the allegation of favoritism, and a DEA agent and a political scientist also had alternate explanations for the arrest data. Another report detailed numerous indications of corruption and influence that the cartel has within the Mexican government. There have also been multiple reports of senior members of the Sinaloa Cartel giving out bribes to high-ranking Mexican government officials. A witness testified at Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán's 2019 U.S. trial that the former president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, took a $100 million bribe from El Chapo. In early 2023, the former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico from 2006 to 2012, Genaro Garcia Luna, was convicted for accepting millions of dollars in cash bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, in exchange for his resources as a public official. The Sinaloa Cartel often had access to Mexico's Federal Police, as well as having access to sensitive information to shake off law enforcement.   During his August 2025 guilty plea in a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada gave input on the cartel's long history of paying bribes to Mexican police and military commanders, with payments going as far back as to the time the Sinaloa Cartel was starting. Alleged collusion with U.S. federal forces In 2012, Newsweek reported on allegations from an anonymous former Sinaloa member turned informant and former DEA agents that alleged that Joaquín Guzmán's legal adviser, Humberto Loya-Castro, had become a key informant for the DEA. 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 Beltrán Leyva, who led a splinter group from the Sinaloa cartel. Such information ensured Loya-Castro was immune from prosecution while also keeping the DEA concentrated on Sinaloa's rivals and away from their leadership. Such allegations were confirmed by court documents obtained by El Universal during their investigation of collaboration with top officials from the Sinaloa cartel. 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 U.S. and would avoid disrupting the cartel's drug operations in exchange for intelligence that could be used against other drug cartels. 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 U.S. officials were assisting the Sinaloa cartel's drug smuggling efforts into the U.S. 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. The allegation that U.S. officials were controlling the drug trade through Mexico was corroborated by the former spokesman of the State of Chihuahua, Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva. In March 2015, BBC TV program This World broadcast an episode entitled "Secrets of Mexico's Drug War" which reported on the U.S. 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 BBC also reported on Vicente Zambada Niebla's claims of immunity from prosecution under a deal between the Mexican and U.S. governments and his claims that the Sinaloa Cartel's leaders had provided U.S. federal agents with information about rival Mexican drug gangs. In the same documentary it is shown that the U.S. Justice Department invoked national security reasons to prevent Humberto Loya Castro, the lawyer of the Sinaloa Syndicate, from being summoned as a witness to the trial against Vicente Zambada Niebla. In February 2026, the U.S. State Department said it would pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrests or convictions of two brothers identified as leaders of the Sinaloa cartel in the state of Baja California. == Market ==

The cartel is primarily involved in the smuggling and distribution of South American (primarily Colombian) cocaine, Mexican cannabis (marijuana), methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as Mexican and Southeast Asian heroin into the United States. Other shipments of South American cocaine are believed to originate directly from Cali and Medellín drug-trafficking groups in Colombia, from which the Sinaloa Cartel then handles transportation across the U.S. border to distribution cells in Arizona, California, Illinois, Texas, New York City, and Washington state. with the Venezuelan organization Cartel of the Suns posing concern to authorities abroad, as well as the increasing size of recent cocaine seizures in Ecuador. In August 2021, a single multi-ton cocaine shipment was seized off the coast of Ecuador causing a string of killings in the aftermath. The CDS is said to have a longstanding partnership with one of Ecuador's largest and most powerful criminal groups; The Choneros, who are based in the Pacific coast beach town of Manta, although they get their name from the western city of Chone. Since 2011, they have evolved to become one of the Ecuador's fiercest prison gangs due to the leader being incarcerated for nearly 8 years. Similarly to methamphetamine, raw fentanyl production and distribution is incredibly profitable. Fentanyl is cheap to produce since it is entirely synthetic and can be clandestinely manufactured since, unlike cannabis (marijuana), opium/heroin, and coca, it requires no farming, cultivation, sunlight, or irrigation. In the coastal city of Mazatlán, 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. border. The cartel also manufactures and traffics heroin, a semisynthetic morphinan compound made from the Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is now typically mixed with fentanyl to very cheaply increase its strength. Much of the heroin smuggled, particularly by the Sinaloa Cartel is made in "The Golden Triangle", a region in Mexico overlapping parts of the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua where opium and cannabis (marijuana) have historically been cultivated. In this northern regional area of illicit production, several important cities in its production and trade, such as Culiacán, Tijuana, Ensenada and San Luis Río Colorado consistently see the highest amount of law enforcement seizures for fentanyl, typically in kilograms (powder) or pressed pills. In San Diego County, the amount of fentanyl intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rose from in 2019 to more than in 2021. The cartel has also been known to use 'blind mules', particularly for the smuggling and transporting of fentanyl into and throughout the U.S., oftentimes with the mules not even knowing what they're trafficking. Many of these mules are American citizens, which helps ease the smuggling process, usually through the ports of entry back into the U.S. Mules are typically paid several thousand dollars to transport what usually amounts to millions of dollars worth of narcotics at a time. Cannabis (marijuana) Although the Sinaloa Cartel has traditionally grown and cultivated cannabis (marijuana) locally in the original "Golden Triangle" region of Mexico, the cartel as well as other modern Mexican cartels have, in recent times, set up large cannabis (marijuana) growing operations in the remote forests and deserts of California where they reportedly have stolen millions of gallons of water for these illegal grows. According to the RAND Corporation in 2010 it wasn't unrealistic to presume that "at least 50 percent" of the cannabis (marijuana) consumed in the United States was produced in Mexico. However, in the subsequent years after this the U.S.'s gradual moves towards recreational legalization in many states, as well as the superior quality of American-grown cannabis (marijuana) significantly began to cut down on the profits of cartels in Mexico. Currently, Culiacán's best-known brand is called "Star Kush". Its logo has an astronaut eating a slice of pizza; the pizza used by the cartel as a reference to "La Chapisa", the people working for Guzmán and his sons. The astronaut sits on top of a huge tomato due to Culiacán's role in being Mexico's biggest tomato exporter. Local producers of cannabis (marijuana) are financed by the Sinaloa organization to "make the best product" but are only allowed to sell it back to the cartel for their dispensaries. Methamphetamine Although likely not as prolific in methamphetamine cooking as the CJNG , the Sinaloa Cartel still has major methamphetamine operations throughout North America, which currently includes Mexico itself due to the now ubiquitous use of meth in the country; with regions like Guanajuato reportedly seeing a 2,400% increase in meth use from 2010 to 2020 roughly. Reportedly in 2010, out of every 100 people who used drugs in Guanajuato, only about two (2%) used crystal meth. While at the end of 2020, this figure increased to almost 50%, with usage rates for drugs like cannabis (marijuana) actually decreasing among users. Initially when Mexican cartels like Sinaloa first moved into the Netherlands to set up shop around 2015 for their new drug manufacturing operations. The cartel, however, eventually convinced many of these groups to move away from MDMA synthesis and try to produce methamphetamine instead due to the potential for much higher profits. Similarly to fentanyl, much of meth's industrial-grade precursors sourced from China or India, as well as Germany, arrive in Mexico at ports like Manzanillo, which has caused notable increases of violence in the small coastal state of Colima, as well as in strategic synthetic drug trafficking regions further north like Baja California and Zacatecas. Along with the state's Pacific Ocean chemical shipments at major ports Federal Highway 15 acts as a south-to-north thoroughfare, cutting from the port city of Mazatlán, through Sinaloa. During 2019 in the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recorded 16,167 methamphetamine overdose deaths, up from 3,627 overdoses related to the drug in 2013. Of the lethal meth overdoses registered in 2019, 52 of them occurred in New Hampshire, which is what caught the DEA's attention in regards to fake "Adderall" pills. This is because methods for synthesizing methamphetamine without using ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, such as the alternative P2P reduction method; tends to yield a racemic (50:50) mixture of both isomers (specifically called enantiomers), rather than just pure d-methamphetamine which is observed in pseudoephedrine-based syntheses. with phenylacetic acid possibly arising from benzaldehyde, benzylcyanide, or benzylchloride. Methylamine is crucial to all such methods, and is produced from the model airplane fuel nitromethane, or formaldehyde and ammonium chloride, or methyl iodide with hexamine. This was once the preferred method of production by American motorcycle gangs in California, until DEA restrictions on the precursor chemicals made the process difficult. This method can involve the use of mercuric chloride and leaves behind mercury and lead environmental wastes. ==Impact==

Mexico and Latin America The cartel has been accused of infiltrating and corrupting various levels of government. There have been allegations of collusion between cartel members and politicians, law enforcement officials, and even elements of the military. Political corruption and the influence of drug cartels have been significant challenges for Mexico, affecting the credibility of its institutions. Cartel activities lead to the degradation of communities, with cities like Ciudad Juárez experiencing high levels of violence, kidnappings, and public decapitations. The Sinaloa Cartel's operations extend beyond Mexico, with the organization involved in drug trafficking throughout Latin America. The evolution of trafficking routes from Colombian cartels to Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) shifted the dynamics, impacting Latin American territories. Specifically, the competition between Colombian cartels and Mexican DTOs, as well as internal competition among Mexican groups, contributed to a surge in violence over the past few decades. Historically, Colombian cartels dominated the cocaine trade, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. The decline of Colombian cartels, partly due to law enforcement efforts and internal conflicts, created a power vacuum in the drug trade. Mexican DTOs capitalized on this vacuum and expanded their operations, leading to increased competition not only with Colombian cartels but also among themselves. The violence perpetrated by drug cartels in Mexico directly spills over into U.S. border regions. Incidents such as shootouts, abductions, and turf wars between rival cartels can extend beyond the Mexican side of the border, causing an escalation of violence in U.S. communities. books (such as Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man) and music, most notoriously in Narcocorridos but also in American rap & hip hop songs. Many different kinds of merchandise and clothing sold in Mexico (particularly in Sinaloa) come bearing the number or logo "701" which comes from a Forbes listing in 2009 that ranked El Chapo as the 701st richest person in the world. Guzmán was also reportedly a fan of the narconovela known as La Reina del Sur which starred Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. Ms. del Castillo was first approached by Guzmán's lawyers in 2014, after she published an open letter to Guzmán in 2012 in which she expressed her sympathy and requested him to "traffic in love" instead of in drugs. Guzmán reached out again to del Castillo after his 2015 prison escape, and allegedly sought to cooperate with her in making a film about his life. American actor Sean Penn heard about the connection with Mexican actress Kate del Castillo through a mutual acquaintance, and asked if he might come along to do an interview. Guzmán had a close call in early October 2015, several days after the meeting with Penn and Kate del Castillo. with cell phone interceptions and information from American authorities The raid on the ranch was met with heavy gunfire, and Guzmán was able to flee. The Attorney General of México declared that "El Chapo ran away through a gully and, although he was found by a helicopter, he was with two women and a girl and it was decided not to shoot". The two women were later revealed to be Guzmán's personal chefs, who had traveled with him to multiple safe houses. At one point, Guzmán reportedly carried a child on his arms "obscuring himself as a target". • The origins of the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as its founding members, have also been portrayed in the Netflix crime drama series Narcos: Mexico. • The Netflix series Queen of the South depicts fictional events dealing with the Sinaloa Cartel and its interconnections with the U.S. drug smuggling. • Bruce Springsteen's song, "Sinaloa Cowboys", appears on his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad. It tells the story of two Mexican brothers who become involved with the Sinaloa Cartel. • In the Netflix series Ozark, the Sinaloa Cartel is portrayed as the main rival of the fictional Navarro cartel in an ongoing war. • The Sinaloa Cartel are the main antagonists of 2018 film The Mule, starring Clint Eastwood (See: Leo Sharp). In this film, the cartel is led by Latón (Andy Garcia) and later by Gustavo (Clifton Collins Jr.), Latón's murderer. • In Tom Clancy's 2011 novel Against All Enemies, the cartel is led by Ernesto "El Matador" Zuñiga, a brutal and powerful Mexican drug lord and rival of Jorge Rojas, the leader of the Juarez Cartel and the main antagonist of Against All Enemies. • On Late Night with Seth Meyers (2022), John Oliver jokingly praised the quality of the Sinaloa Cartel's cocaine. In addition to television and film, the cartel's former leader, "El Chapo", is a popular point of discussion in rap music, particularly growing notoriety after his 2014 capture after escaping prison in 2001. Several songs reference or depict El Chapo, often portraying him as a larger-than-life figure or focusing on his criminal activities. Most notable songs include: • "El Chapo" by The Game featuring Skrillex: This song, released in 2015, directly references El Chapo in its title. The lyrics touch on themes of power, influence, and the dangerous lifestyle associated with drug cartels. • "El Chapo" by Casino, Future, and Young Scooter: Also released in 2015, the song features the three artists rapping about themes related to the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, referencing his criminal lifestyle, power, and influence. ==See also==