. 13. Washington Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six Mexican nationals and Sinaloa Cartel members involved in the illicit methamphetamine and fentanyl trade as well as six Mexico-based entities pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) He holds university degrees in political science, government, social science, anthropology-geography, behavioral science, and history and has undertaken hundreds of hours of counterterrorism training. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. At the time of the rupture, Los Zetas controlled drug trafficking in large parts of eastern, central, and southern Mexico. However, Sinaloas mere existence adds a level of complexity to a country already struggling with a handful of international criminal groups. [p. 100], The Gulf Cartel has been in operation for decades. 99-100], Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) The BLO asserted its independence after the Beltran-Leyva brothers and their associates split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2008. Tracking Mexico's Cartels in 2019 - Stratfor The New England FD reports Mexican TCOs, primarily the Sinaloa Cartel, serve as the main sources of supplies for the Dominican TCOs that dominate distribution of wholesale supplies of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. were also accused of having links to Peralta's drug trafficking and money laundering ring. 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. There are a lot of pacts [between state and crime], said a white-collar broker providing services to the Jalisco cartel, but only at the local and regional level. Santo Domingo.- Julio de la Cruz Acosta, a Dominican resident in Paterson, New Jersey, admitted in federal court in Newark that he laundered 1.94 million dollars from the sale of drugs of the Sinaloa Cartel, led by "Los Chapitos." According to testimony, De la Cruz transferred the cash to the Dominican Republic and Colombia. El Chapo T-shirt Mexico Mexican Cartel Sinaloa Cartel - Etsy The DEA and officials in the State Department believe Mexican cartels are looking to gain greater control of turf outside the Central America and Mexico corridor, which receive the bulk of US focus and financial support. The Obama administration has warned that the drug war in Mexico would push cartels to increasingly run drugs through the Caribbean. I dont send money to strangers! She wanted me to send her $300 to some random guy living in Dominican Republic (DR) using western Union.I was very hesitant and ended up declining all her Attempts, stop talking to her and block her number. An Italian law enforcement operation in 2016, against an attempt by an 'Ndrangheta clan to import 8 tonnes of cocaine from Colombia, revealed that the Latin American cartel was intending to keep. [16] Coatepec Harinas attack. At times, Mexican TCOs collaborate directly with local criminal groups and gangs across the United States to distribute and transport drugs at the retail level. As of 2021, the Sinaloa Cartel remains Mexico's most dominant drug cartel. His brother and top leader of the cartel, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, was killed in a shootout with Mexican troops in 2010. Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. U.S Treasury sanctions cartel-run timeshare fraud network targeting An October 2019 ambush in El Aguaje another town in Aguililla left 13 state police dead. At home, he wasnt afraid to flaunt his riches on social media. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? But as well as engaging in pitched gun battles, criminal factions are also confronting each other on the electoral field. And, according to experts in the region, it is set to expand further. [p. 100], The Juarez Cartel is one of the older Mexican TCOs. Colombians, Venezuelans and Puerto Ricans, working with Dominicans, use the maritime route to move drugs from South America to Puerto Rico, where it can easily enter the US via the eastern seaboard, or to Europe. The Dominican military had significantly reduced the number of flights when it began deploying Brazilian-made Embraer Super Tucano turboprop aircraft last year. First Dominican drug kingpin was shot dead in prison *This article was updated to clarify the amount of cocaine transiting the Caribbean that US authorities estimate passes through the Dominican Republic. They are familiar with Colombians and Venezuelans and Puerto Ricans. Among them, traffickers attach torpedo-shaped tubes or metal boxes full of cocaine, heroin, or other drugs to the underside of cargo ships. It is also thought to have smuggled heroin and amphetamines, and it worked closely with cartels in Colombia. mexican cartel culiacan tshirt More Listed on Feb 20, 2023 2 favorites Report this item to Etsy . 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. I tried to tell him I didnt had any money left but he refused to listen and told me to find another way to get money or else.Me being so afraid that I didnt wanted to tell this to any of my family members so I ended up taking out money from all my credit cards so yes,you can imagine how this impacted me negatively. By the time Pea Nieto left office in 2018, Mexico had suffered another record year of murders, with nearly 36,000 people slain. 2023 BBC. Meanwhile, some street gangs are working with rival gangs to increase both gangs drug revenues, while individual members of assorted street gangs have pro ted by forming relationships with friends and family associated with Mexican cartels. Religious groups are among the final institutions present in Haiti, delivering aid and support to an afflicted population. The drugs are delivered to user markets in the United States through transportation routes and distribution cells that are managed or influenced by Mexican TCOs, and with the cooperation and participation of local street gangs. Activist appears targeted at Mexican president's press brief The Sinaloa Cartel controls drug trafficking activity in various regions in Mexico, particularly along the Pacific Coast. His life and vast drug-trafficking empire have been the subject of numerous books and TV series. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. Small Wars Journal is published by Small Wars Foundation - a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The reduction in flights has resulted in redoubled efforts by traffickers to use maritime methods such as go-fast boats, privately-owned fishing and recreational vehicles, and cargo containers, de Castro said. It remains to be seen what the renewed focus on Peralta and his drug trafficking organization means for criminal dynamics in the Caribbean. He was recaptured a year. As of September 2020, the Dominican Republic recorded 705 murders according to its Citizen Security Observatory, giving the country a projected annual total of 940 killings and a homicide rate of 9.0 per 100,000 (one of the lowest in the region). Los Zetas members currently traffic methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin through key distribution hubs in Laredo, Dallas, and New Orleans. He said: They have the state government on their side and when we try to attack, they send helicopters and launch operations., He hoped that his own group could balance things out by channeling votes from its area of control to a high-level candidate. organisation Mexican TCOs work directly with Colombian sources of supply, often sending Mexican representatives to Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela to coordinate cocaine shipments. Please support our mission investigating organized crime. That cartel ran into an issue in the mid-1980s when the cartel kidnapped . This all started 2 years ago (2018) when I hit up girl on Facebook. In Mexico, crime cartels control the flow of illegal drugs through the southern U.S. border, partnering with independent crime groups, American street gangs, prison gangs and Asian money laundering organizations. There is nothing they can do to help you out unfortunately except give you a case number which may help you with banks or credit card companies if you choose to pursue that. Those soldiers would eventually go rogue and form a rival cartel of their own (more on this later). It also suggests cartels are examining the Caribbean as a supplement to the preferred Central America-Mexico route a shift US officials have feared. [p. 6], The Sinaloa Cartel (aka the Pacific Cartel), based in the Mexican State of Sinaloa, is one of the oldest and more established DTOs in Mexico. In fact, Milenio reported April 1 that March 2020 was the deadliest month in Mexico for cartel-related killings since the Mexican newspaper began keeping records in 2007. So where are the pilots? San Diego FD reports that both Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG control the Tijuana/San Diego trafficking corridor. He was wanted since 1993 for 953 kilos of cocaine hidden in cans of sauce from Panama, and for complicity in the kidnapping and murder of the son of senator Augusto Feliz Matos, Victor. Struggle for control of lucrative drug trafficking territories continues to fuel the majority of the street- gang violence facing local communities. Members of Los Zetas smuggle, the majority of their illicit drugs through the border area between Del Rio and Falcon Lake, Texas, with a base of power in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The Mexican women who kicked out the cartels video, Mexicos fastest-expanding criminal network, decade-long attempt to take over the region. We want to sustain Latin Americas largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources. He wants to avoid the high political costs past governments have suffered after they declared war against organized crime, so that he can achieve other priorities like structural reforms instead such as in the energy sector, Maldonado said. Dominican Republic reels from Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles It was a sign the group remains an immensely powerful force. Amid the tumult, he said, local livelihoods have become unsustainable: Basic goods arent getting through any more, there is no more fresh food, and everything has become very expensive, gasoline now costs three times as much as before.. In most cases, individuals hired to transport drug shipments within the United States are independent, third- party contractors who may work for multiple Mexican TCOs. A source in the cartel said that gaining control over Michoacn was an obsession of the groups leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who was born in the state. Recent law enforcement reporting indicates opium poppy cultivation overseen by the Juarez Cartel has increased significantly in the State of Chihuahua since 2013, outpacing marijuana cultivation in some regions. Franklin Franco was alleged to be a renowned drug trafficker in the 1980s and is considered by some to be the countrys first major trafficker. COVID-19 and Mexico's Criminal Cartels - Business Insider CJNG reportedly has presence in at least 24 of 32 Mexican states. Free shipping for many products! But its clearly something to be worried about, she said. She is the sister of Berlinesa Franco, the current executive director of the National Institute for Early Childhood Care (Instituto Nacional de Atencin Integral a la Primera Infancia -- INAIPI), and she is reportedly close to sitting President Danilo Medina, according to Univision. Sinaloa and Nayarit are responsible for most of the black tar and brown powder heroin distributed in Colorado and Utah. Currently, as UAS can only carry only small multi-kilogram amounts of illicit drugs, they are not commonly used, although there is potential for increased growth and use, particularly if their carrying capacity is increased. Inside Mexico, the Mexican TCOs place illicit proceeds into the financial system through foreign exchange businesses, the purchase of assets with cash, and use of front and shell companies to receive electronic transfers in order to conceal the true beneficial ownership of the illicit proceeds. However, there is little spillover violence in the United States as U.S.-based Mexican TCO members generally refrain from inter-cartel violence to avoid law enforcement detection and scrutiny. [p. 99], Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) CJNG, based in the city of Guadalajara in the Mexican State of Jalisco, is the most recently formed of the six TCOs. Founded in the late 1980s, it was for many years headed by the notorious drug lord Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn. With a traditional power base in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas, the Gulf Cartel traffics primarily marijuana and cocaine but has expanded to include heroin and methamphetamine. Premium access for businesses and educational institutions. The fighting goes hand-in-hand with the struggle for political power. A lack of leadership caused the Zetas to splinter and allowed rival groups to assert dominance, according to analysis from Insight Crime, which monitors organised crime in the Americas. A Nation Ill-Equipped Against Traffickers. Authorities in the Dominican Republic have dismantled one of the country's most sophisticated crime syndicates, but the exploits of its leader, who is still on the run, have caught the attention of US authorities, bringing a renewed focus to the Caribbean nation's role in the drug trade. Tracking Mexico's Cartels in 2021. Traffickers largely utilize go-fast boats, capable of carrying more than 4,000 pounds of cocaine, to transport drugs. Indeed, many cartel leaders live in upscale homes or apartment buildings, and this increases the risk of violence being dragged into such areas when rivals . The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. And the agencies responsible for combatting trafficking have been riddled with corruption. Struggle for control of lucrative drug trafficking territories continues to fuel the majority of the street- gang violence facing local communities. CJNG smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors along the SWB including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. The group then trafficked the drugs into the United States, according to Univision. Mexico vs. Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic and Mexico are both icons of the travel industry in the Caribbean, with some of the top attractions imaginable in a holiday spot. [pp. Mexican TCOs export significant quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and fentanyl into the United States annually.