Sinaloa Cartel

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Sinaloa Cartel

Joaquín Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
Founded	Early 1970s
In	Sinaloa State of Mexico
Years active	Early 1970s–present
Territory	Mexico: Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Jalisco United States: California, Oregon, Texas
Ethnicity	Mexican
Membership	Estimated to have well over 1,000 foot soldiers. Command and control elements are much more limited.
Criminal activities	Cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine production, transport and wholesaling; controls numerous plazas/drug trafficking corridors, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, kidnapping, murder and arms trafficking.
Rivals	Gulf Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Los Zetas, Juarez Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa) is a Mexican drug trafficking cartel primarily operating out of the states of Baja California, Sinaloa, Durango, Sonora and Chihuahua.^[1][2] The cartel is also known as the Guzmán-Loera Organization and the Pacific Cartel, the latter due to the coast of Mexico from which it originated, other names include the Federation or Golden Triangle.^[3][1][4]

According to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 tons of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008.^[5]

Contents 1 Background 2 Leadership 2.1 Alliances 3 Operations 4 Battling the Tijuana Cartel 5 Edgar Valdéz Villarreal 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Background

Pedro Avilés Pérez was a pioneer drug lord in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in the late 1960s. He is considered to be the first generation of major Mexican drug smugglers of marijuana who marked the birth of large-scale Mexican drug trafficking.^[6] He also pioneered the use of aircraft to smuggle drugs to the United States. ^[7]

Second generation Sinaloan traffickers such as Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Avilés Pérez' nephew Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán,^[8] would claim they learned all they knew about narcotrafficking while serving in the Avilés organization. Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, who eventually founded the the Guadalajara Cartel was arrested in 1989. While incarcerated, he remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining his organization via mobile phone until he was transferred to a new maximum security prison in the 1990s. At that point, his old organization broke up into two factions: the Tijuana Cartel led by his nephews, the Arellano Félix brothers, and the Sinaloa Cartel, run by former lieutenants Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, Adrián Gómez González and Joaquín Guzmán Loera El Chapo.

[edit] Leadership

The Sinaloa Cartel used to be known as La Alianza de Sangre (Blood Partnership). When Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (a.k.a: El Güero) was arrested on June 23, 1995 by elements of the Mexican Army, his partner Joaquín Guzmán Loera took the leadership of the cartel.^[2][9] Guzmán was captured in Guatemala on June 9, 1993 and extradited to Mexico, where he was jailed in a maximum security prison, but on January 19, 2001 Guzmán escaped and resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán has two top lieutenants, Ismael Zambada García and el chacal j15 mayor terrorist Ignacio Coronel Villareal.^[10][11] Guzman and Zambada became Mexico's top drug kingpins in 2003, after the arrest of their rival Osiel Cardenas of the Gulf Cartel. Another close associate, Javier Torres Felix, was arrested and extradited to the United States in December 2006;^[12] so far, Guzmán and Zambada have evaded operations to capture them.

[edit] Alliances

The Sinaloa Cartel -Joaquín Guzmán Loera- has forged a collaboration pact with Vicente Carrillo Fuentes of the Juarez Cartel; the Milenio Cartel (Valencia Cartel), Sonora Cartel, and Colima Cartel have become branches of the Sinaloa Cartel.^[13]

[edit] Operations

The Sinaloa Cartel has a presence in 17 states, with important centers in Mexico City, Tepic, Toluca, Cuautitlán and most of the state of Sinaloa.^[14] The cartel is primarily involved in the smuggling and distribution of Colombian cocaine, Mexican marijuana, methamphetamine and Mexican and Southeast Asian heroin into the United States.^[15][16] It is believed that a group known as the Herrera Organization would transport multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America to Guatemala on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel; from there it is smuggled north to Mexico and later in the United States.^[17] Other shipments of cocaine are believed to originate in Colombia from Cali and Medellín drug-trafficking groups from which the Sinaloa Cartel handle transportation across the U.S. border to distribution cells in Arizona, California, Texas, Chicago and New York.^[15][1][18]

In the late 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico.^[19] By the mid-1990s, according to one court opinion, it was believed to be the size of the Medellín Cartel during its prime.^[19] The Sinaloa Cartel was believed to be linked to the Juárez Cartel in a strategic alliance following the partnership of their rivals, the Gulf Cartel and Tijuana Cartel.^[16][19][20] 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.^[21][18]

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 330 miles of Arizona border, and it was suspected they had accomplished this by bribing state government officials. The Beltrán-Leyva Cartel are now allies of Los Zetas of the Gulf Cartel.

In January 2008 the cartel had allegedly split into a number of warring factions, which is a major cause of the epidemic of drug violence Mexico has seen in the last year. ^[22] Murders by the cartel often involve beheadings or bodies dissolved in vats of acid.^[23]

Atlanta has been used as a major U.S. distribution center and accounting hub, and has brought ruthless violence to that area.^[24]

On February 25, 2009, the United States 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.^[25][26]

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 where Sinaloa Cartel has been battling Los Zetas of the Gulf Cartel. The city has suffered over 1,600 deaths related to drug trafficking, the highest in the country. ^[27]

The Sinaloa cartel’s loss of partners in Mexico does not appear to have impacted its ability to smuggle drugs from South America to the United States. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. It has also demonstrated the ability to establish operations in previously unknown areas, such as Central America and South America, even as far south as Perú, Paraguay and Argentina. It also appears to be most active in diversifying its export markets; rather than relying solely on U.S. consumers, it has made an effort to supply distributors of drugs in Latin American and European countries.^[10]

[edit] Battling the Tijuana Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel has been waging a war against the Tijuana Cartel (Arellano-Félix Organization) over the Tijuana smuggling route to the border city of San Diego, California. The rivalry between the two cartels dates back to the Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo setup of Palma's family. Félix Gallardo, following his imprisonment, bestowed the Guadalajara Cartel to his nephews in the Tijuana Cartel. In 1992 Palma struck out against the Tijuana Cartel at a disco in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where eight Tijuana Cartel members were killed in the shootout, the Arellano-Félix brothers having successfully escaped from the location.^[11]

In retaliation, the Tijuana Cartel attempted to set up Guzmán at Guadalajara airport on May 24, 1993. In the shootout that followed, six civilians were killed by the hired gunmen from the Logan Heights, San Diego-based 30th Street gang.^[11] The deaths included that of Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo. The church hierarchy originally believed Ocampo was targeted as revenge for his strong stance against the drug trade; however, Mexican officials believe Ocampo just happened to be caught in cross fire.^[28][29][30] The Cardinal arrived at the airport in a Mercury Grand Marquis town car, known to be popular amongst drug barons, making it a target.^[28][29][30] This explanation however is often countered due to Ocampo having been wearing a long black cassock and large pectoral cross, as well as him sharing no similarity in appearance with Guzmán and having been gunned down from only two feet away.^[11]

[edit] Edgar Valdéz Villarreal

Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal is a Sinaloa cartel lieutenant and the operator of its armed group known as Los Negros,^[31][32] formed by the Sinaloa Cartel to counter the operations of the rival Gulf Cartel's Los Zetas.^[16][33][1] Los Negros have been known to employ gangs such as the Mexican Mafia, and MS-13 to carry out murders and other illegal activities. These are Los Angeles based street gangs who are known to be rivals but when asked to work for the Sinaloa Cartel they put their differences aside.^[34] The group is currently involved in fighting in the Nuevo Laredo region for control of the drug trafficking corridor.^[33][16][1] Following the 2003 arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas, it is believed the Sinaloa Cartel moved 200 men into the region to battle the Gulf Cartel for control.^[20] The Nuevo Laredo region is an important drug trafficking corridor into Laredo, Texas, where as much as 40% of all Mexican exports pass through into the United States.

Following the 2002 assassination of journalist Roberto Javier Mora García from El Mañana newspaper, much of the local media has been cautious reporting the fighting. The cartels have pressured reporters to send messages and wage a media war. In 2008, Edgar Valdez took out an ad in the local paper accusing Los Zetas of being "narco-kidnappers" and purchasing protection from state officials and the attorney general's office.^{[citation needed]} The drug war between the Sinaloa, Tijuana and Gulf cartels has spread to various regions of Mexico such as Guerrero, Mexico City, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas.

[edit] See also

• Gulf Cartel
• Tijuana Cartel
• Beltrán-Leyva Cartel‎‎
• Mexican drug war
• Mérida Initiative
• Narco submarine

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikinews has related news: Tourists evacuated following shootout between Mexican army and drug hitmen

• Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera on America's Most Wanted
• Jose Espinoza--The "Leonardo da Vinci" of the Sinaloa Cartel—San Francisco Chronicle—November 1, 2009:

v • d • e Mexican Drug War (2006–present) Federal forces: Mexican Army • Mexican Air Force • Mexican Navy • Federal Investigations Agency • Federal Police • Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez • Beltrán-Leyva Cartel Founders: Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva • Alfredo Beltrán Leyva  • Mario Alberto Beltrán Leyva  • Carlos Beltrán Leyva  • Héctor Beltrán Leyva  • La Familia Cartel Founders: Nazario Moreno González • Carlos Rosales Mendoza • José de Jesús Méndez Vargas • Julio César Godoy Toscano • Enrique Plancarte • Arnoldo Rueda Medina • Servando Gómez Martínez • Dionicio Loya Plancarte • Rafael Cedeño Hernández • Gulf Cartel Founders: Juan Nepomuceno Guerra • Juan García Abrego  • Current leaders: Osiel Cárdenas Guillén • Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén • Jorge Eduardo Costilla • Juárez Cartel Founders: Pablo Acosta Villarreal • Amado Carrillo Fuentes • Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo • Rafael Caro Quintero • Miguel Caro Quintero • Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo • Current leaders: Vicente Carrillo Fuentes • Juan Pablo Ledesma • Sinaloa Cartel (Armed wing: Los Negros) Founders: Pedro Avilés Pérez • Héctor Luis Palma Salazar • Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo • Current leaders: Joaquín Guzmán Loera • Ismael Zambada García • Ignacio Coronel Villarreal • Édgar Valdéz Villarreal (Los Negros)  • Teodoro García Simental • Juan José Esparragoza Moreno • Tijuana Cartel Founders: Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo • Current leaders: Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano • Ramón Arellano Félix • Eduardo Arellano Félix • Francisco Javier Arellano Félix • Edgardo Leyva Escandon • Los Zetas Founders: Arturo Guzmán Decena • Jesús Enrique Rejón Águila • Jaime González Durán • Heriberto Lazcano • Miguel Treviño Morales Current leaders: Heriberto Lazcano • Miguel Treviño Morales  • See also Timeline of the Mexican Drug War • Mérida Initiative • Narco submarine • Project Gunrunner • War on Drugs • Operation Solare • Operation Xcellerator • Project Coronado •