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Investigators are seeking a Tijuana businessman who owned the parcel", "DEA Couldn't Verify Tips on Drug Tunnel", "DRUG TUNNELS ALONG THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: HIGH COSTS, HIGH REWARDS", "Border tunnels: Complete list of those found", "Ejidatarios exigen pago justo por tierra expropiada en BC- El aeropuerto internacional de Tijuana ocupa la superficie", "DEA/ICE Uncover "Massive" Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Cement lined passage thought to link warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa", "2,400-foot tunnel 'beats them all' -Builders of passage were well-funded, investigators say", "Major cross-border drug tunnel discovered south of San Diego", "Quitan tneles y droga a la mafia en BC-Decomisan 40 toneladas de marihuana", "Raid on U.S.-Mexico drug tunnel: 22 arrests, at least 12 tons of pot seized", "Hallan Otro Narcotunel Cerca del Aeropuerto", "Second Major Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Discovered South of San Diego This Month- Investigators seize 32 tons of marijuana, arrest 6 suspects", "Elaborate drug tunnel yields record pot seizure- More than 32 tons recovered in the United States and Mexico", "El tnel de Mxico a EU para transportar droga tena un elevador y rieles", "Drug lord 'El Chapo' extradited to the U.S.", "Mexican authorities busted 2 more cross-border tunnels possibly built by the Sinaloa cartel", "Sophisticated drug cartel tunnel from San Diego to Mexico found", "Woman linked to cartel kingpin 'El Chapo' arrested at San Diego border, charged in drug conspiracy", "HSBC money-laundering scandal casts a cloud over Lord Green, the trade minister", "U.S. Says Threat of Mexican Drug Cartels Approaching 'Crisis Proportions', "Treasury Designates Sinaloa Cartel Plaza Bosses", "HSBC became bank to drug cartels, pays big for lapses", "Sinaloa Cartel Bought Narco Plane Via HSBC Bank", "Forget The Drug Dealers And Iran, HSBC Is Having A Great Year", "Chicago's new Public Enemy No. [105][106][107], During the 2000s and possibly still today, 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. ", "Mexico's Sinaloa gang grows empire, defies crackdown", "Unraveling Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel", "Inside Mexico's Most Powerful Drug Cartel", "Where 7 Mexican drug cartels are active within the U.S.", "Mexican traffickers making New York a hub for lucrative and deadly fentanyl", "Inside the Sinaloa Cartel's Fentanyl Smuggling Operations", "Drug Users Are Nostalgic for 'Old-School Heroin' as Fentanyl Takes Over", "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller: Season 1 Episode 2: Fentanyl", "Cartels Take to Social Media to Peddle Deadly Fentanyl Pills, DEA Says", "Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Climb in Washington, and Cartels Are to Blame, Feds Say", "San Diego: The epicenter of fentanyl trafficking", "The DEA says drug cartels are putting fentanyl in candy to sell to kids. According to the Sedena he is the assumed assassin of activist Nepomuceno Moreno Nez, which occurred 28 November 2011. However, the days of big cartels in Mexico may be numbered. We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. The Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan areas are major trans-shipment and distribution points for the cartel in the US. The Sinaloa Cartel is a powerful and violent Mexican drug trafficking organization based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. [175] The allegation that US officials were controlling the drug trade through Mexico was corroborated by the former spokesman of the State of Chihuahua, Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva.[176]. Nearly all of the trafficking organizations in Mexico have their origins in the region. The group has expanded rapidly . This division of the organization in the late 1980s led to the cartel essentially being made up of several smaller cartels who controlled their own territories and trafficking corridors with their own bosses. 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. New York: Viking. 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. The rivalry between the two cartels dates back to the Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo setup of Palma's family. [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. [72], In the late 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico. [61] It is currently the majority supplier of illicit fentanyl to North America, with most, if not all of the cartel's heroin now also being mixed with fentanyl or related chemical analogues to increase the heroin's potency in a more cost-effective manner. "We have 20 'El Chapos' here." Along with the captured suspects, 16 assault rifles, 3 grenades, 102 magazines and 3,543 rounds of ammunition were seized. [109] Fentanyl is chemically classified as a phenylpiperidine in its molecular structure, unlike the more traditional morphinan poppy-derived opiates such as codeine, morphine and even the closely related hydrocodone and heroin (diacetylmorphine). In 2019 he was found guilty on various charges, including drug trafficking. 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. In the ensuing years, drug tunnels moving tons of narcotics were detected in and around the Tijuana airport. Jess Alfredo Salazar Ramrez was arrested on 1 November 2012, in the municipality of Huixquilucan, by military personnel working with the Mexican Attorney General's office (PGR).[167]. Palma Salazar was arrested in 1995. El Cholo formed his own gang, the "Nueva Plaza Cartel," financially supported by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of CJNG's biggest enemies. Guzmn have one close associate, Ismael Zambada Garca. These Special Forces-trained cartel members had recently demanded to be transferred. Matta Ballesteros lived part-time in Colombia, where he operated as the main intermediary between Mexican and Colombian traffickers, particularly the Medelln and Guadalajara Cartels. Powerful figures in the Guadalajara organization, the two men became leaders in the Sinaloa cartel. Guzmn resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel, but on 8 January 2016, Guzmn was captured again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzmn's home state of Sinaloa. They also announced the seizure of more than $59million in cash and numerous vehicles, planes, and boats. [121][122] 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. On January 8, 2016, however, Mexican officials announced that Guzmn had been captured in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. The military-style attack on . [165], The Mexican Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) reported the arrest of Jess Alfredo Salazar Ramrez, alias "El Mueco" or "El Pelos", who was identified as the current lieutenant of the South Pacific Cartel in the state of Sonora. [80], Second generation Sinaloan traffickers such as Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo, Ismael Zambada Garca and Avils Prez' nephew Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn[81] would claim they learned all they knew about 'narcotraficantes' while serving in the Avils organization. This time it was all Chapo, he said. Shannon, Elaine (1988). YouTube. At one point, Guzmn reportedly carried a child on his arms "obscuring himself as a target". [147], Before his arrest, Vicente Zambada Niebla ("El Vicentillo"), son of Ismael Zambada Garca ("El Mayo"), played a key role in the Sinaloa Cartel. As the country's criminal landscape continues to grow more fragmented, it's unclear if and how traditional cartels will be forced to adapt. 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. border. [82][83][85][1], During this time, Sinaloa was considered to be at a major disadvantage since they were forced to move much of their drug product through the Tijuana corridor, which often put them directly into conflict with the Arellanos. 1. Mexican security forces captured on Thursday drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, triggering a wave of violence ahead of a visit by U.S. President . As the country's criminal landscape continues to grow more fragmented, it's unclear if and how traditional cartels will be forced to adapt. Calls for his extradition to the United States started just hours after his arrest. The majority of high-value hard drugs are smuggled into the U.S. through legal ports of entry (border crossings) according to the DEA and various sources. 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. As a result, more criminal, Despite the pandemics economic fallout being felt throughout the Riviera Maya, cartels have continued their extortion schemes in Mexico's popular, The United States and Mexico have officially entered a new phase of their partnership to tackle transnational organized crime groups. A report from Mexico's National Intelligence Center (Centro Nacional de Inteligencia - CIN) identified three Mexican companies supplying both cartels with these chemicals. Frozen, "Mexican drug lord killed in raid, officials say", "El Chapo, Escaped Mexican Drug Lord, Is Recaptured in Gun Battle", "The Drug Situation in the Chicago Field Division", "U.S. charges 10 accused Mexican drug cartel leaders", "Colombia Survey 2014: UNODC study shows significant increase in coca leaf production in high density areas", "Colombia Is Growing Record Amounts Of Coca, The Key Ingredient In Cocaine", "Cocaine production in Colombia is at historic highs", "Colombia's Cocaine Keeps On Reaching New Heights: UNODC Report", "60 Charged in San Diego-based Sinaloa Cartel Meth Investigation", "Major multi-million meth bust alarms Atlanta DEA agents", "Drug cartels stealing millions of gallons of water for marijuana grows in Antelope Valley: Officials", "Nearly 7 Tons of Marijuana Seized from Suspected Cartel Grow Sites in Monterey County, California", "LA County's Largest Drug Bust in History Involves Suspected Mexican Cartels", "Made in China: China's Role in Transnational Crime and Illicit Financial Flows", "Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG Share Fentanyl Chemical Suppliers", "Latest news from around the world | The Guardian", "Consumption Of Fentanyl, The Drug That Is 50 Times Strronger Than Heroin, Grows In Northern Mexico", "Mexico's precursor chemical controls: Emergence of less potent types of methamphetamine in the United States", "Army Secures 1.2 Tons Of Methamphetamine In Cosal, Sinaloa", "Mapa de crteles del narco en Mxico segn Inteligencia Financiera", "Ivan Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmn's Top Lieutenants", "Chapo's rise: From poor, abused to cartel kingpin", "Annals of Excavation: Underworld- How the Sinaloa Cartel digs its tunnels", "Mexico Cardinal Slain; Caught in Gun Battle: Violence: 6 others are killed at Guadalajara airport. The corrupt cops allegedly had a deal that entitled them to half the value of any drug shipment taken from an opposing cartel thanks to their information. Divisions participating in Project Wave Breaker are credited with 85% of all synthetic opioids seized by the DEA in 2020. The latter due to the coast of Mexico from which it originated. Our work is costly and high risk. This would make it less likely the whole organization would be brought down all at once. [144] At this time the organization was laundering money at global scale, mainly through British bank HSBC. Enemies: Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel. [47] In this region, black tar heroin has often been referred to as the black goat. Funky town of course. [45] The dead included Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jess Posadas Ocampo. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article. The cartel was founded in Mexico's Sinaloa state and now operates in 17 Mexican states, and by some estimates, in as many as 50 countries. "This is a city filled with drug lords," a Mexican journalist said. [25] According to the Ombudsman's Office, an autonomous institution under the Colombian Office of the Attorney General; in the first two months of 2021, violent events (augmented by Mexican trafficking groups) displaced more than 11,000 people from their communities within Colombia. One YouTube video sympathetic to the Sinaloa Cartel opens with white lettering: "This is what happens to all my enemies." A singer launches into an up-tempo song against a montage of images: slain . ', "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. 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. [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. Another close associate, Javier Torres Flix, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in December 2006. [131][132], Similar to the "Taj Mahal" of drug tunnels discovered on Otay Mesa in 1993,[125] the 2006 drug "super tunnel" was traced back to the Sinaloa Cartel. 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. The CJNG emerged out of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010 after the death of former Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio Coronel, alias Nacho. Since, the CJNG has expanded rapidly across the country, involving itself in a host of criminal activities, including international drug trafficking, most recently involving synthetic drugs and powerful opioids like fentanyl, which the Sinaloa Cartel is also involved in the trafficking of. 1 nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid fentanyl . In March 2015, BBC TV programme This World broadcast an episode entitled "Secrets of Mexico's Drug War"[177] which reported on the US 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. [170] Another report detailed numerous indications of corruption and influence that the cartel has within the Mexican government. Trump opened a case with the FBI after the drug lord threatened to assassinate him on social media.1 This online threat came just days after El Chapo's daring escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico. Sinaloa cartel One of the oldest and largest of the Mexican cartels. [45], In retaliation, the Tijuana Cartel attempted to set up Guzmn at Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993. El Chapo fled to Guatemala where he was arrested two weeks later. In 2014 Guzmn was apprehended in Mazatln, Sinaloa, Mexico, but the following year he escaped from prison through a tunnel. said the Sinaloa Cartel at one time slaughtered more . That state was long involved in the illegal drug industry as home to marijuana and poppy crops, and it was also the birthplace of numerous drug traffickers, including Hctor Luis Palma Salazar and Joaqun Guzmn Loera, who was known as El Chapo (Shorty). [90][45] Guzman and Zambada became Mexico's top drug kingpins in 2003, after the arrest of their rival Osiel Crdenas Guilln of the Gulf Cartel. After the North American Free Trade Agreement the wealth of the Gulf Cartel skyrocketed and the cartel's leader Osiel Cardenas, along with his militaristic Z. El Mayo was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for El Chapo after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001. [203], Allegations of collusion with Mexican federal government forces, Allegations of collusion with the US federal government, The figure is an estimate for the Sinaloa Cartel and the. 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. [71][72] Various sources alleged that internal conflicts for the cartel's total leadership had broken out between the Guzmn and Zambada factions of the organization, however newer sources as of November 2022 have claimed that these two sides of the cartel have recently reconciled their differences and are planning to work together to take on the Jalisco Cartel. El Azul reportedly died of a heart attack in June 2014, although there are rumors that he is still alive and well. 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. With unregulated trucking and warehouse operations, the former Ejido Tampico became a major distribution point for narcotics being moved into the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel is not a hierarchical structure. The body of Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, a.k.a. [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. The cartel emerged in 2010, first as an ally of the Sinaloa cartel of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, and then, by 2013, as an independent organization trafficking drugs through some of Mexico . Taco Star was noted as suspicious due to payments of more than $200,000 to El Potosino. [62][63][64] As of 2023[update], the Sinaloa Cartel is overall the most active drug cartel involved in smuggling illicit drugs into the United States and trafficking them throughout the country. El Chapo is in prison, but Sinaloa cartel remains strong. [130] 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. 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. It was a blow to Mexicos efforts to fight drugs and further underscored the power of both the Sinaloa cartel and Guzmn. . (Sinaloa Cartel) The origin story: Since its inception in the 1980s, the Sinaloa cartel has undoubtedly been the most prominent and fearsome criminal organization in Mexico. It is based in Culiacn, Sinaloa state, Mexico. It is based in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. Today, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin CJNG), is the Sinaloa Cartel's primary enemy. [180][181][182] The cardinal arrived at the airport in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car, known to be popular amongst drug barons. On 30 August 2010, Villarreal was captured by Mexican Federal Police. . Omissions? The drug operation allegedly brought 1.5 to 2 tons of cocaine every month to Chicago from Mexico and shipped millions of dollars south of the border. [112] Front companies in Mexico can easily import the small quantities cartel groups need to be diverted for production by mixing them in with legal products or mislabeling them altogether. The current rate of production and sale of methamphetamine in Mexico is also a result of the so-called "new era" of fully-synthetic drug manufacturing and trafficking. [105] In the summer of 2021, this apparently led to Los Angeles County's largest marijuana bust in its history.[105][106][107]. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from the Federal Social Readaption Center No. In August 2021, a single multi-ton cocaine shipment was seized off the coast of Ecuador causing a string of killings in the aftermath. Much of which is also now supposedly the L-methamphetamine isomer (which has more side effects) instead of the more traditional and potent D-methamphetamine, or is now just a racemic mixture of both. El Chapo maintained some control from prison, passing messages through his lawyers. Now, El Chapo's wife is in U.S. custody . In December 2013, three suspected members of the cartel were arrested in Lipa in Batangas province in the Philippines with 84 kilograms of methamphetamine.[156][169]. 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. As of 2013, the Sinaloa Cartel continued to dominate the Sonora-Arizona corridor, which extends for nearly 375 miles. On 19 December 2013, the Federal Police of Mexico killed Gonzalo "El Macho Prieto" Inzunza in a gun battle in Puerto Penasco, Sonora. The Sinaloa Cartel's tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and almost every major city in between. Members of the Sinaloa cartel in a photograph included in . The former Ejido Tampico also continued to expand its unpermitted development and more drug tunnels were discovered operating within its boundary to warehouses located on Otay Mesa in San Diego, California. Also quoted was a Mexican reporter who claimed hearing numerous times from the public that the military had been involved in murders. News outlets in Mexico are reporting contradictory stories about whether the Jalisco and Sinaloa Cartels are friends, enemies or something in between. [146] Murders by the cartel often involve beheadings or bodies dissolved in vats of alkali and are sometimes filmed and posted on the Internet as a warning to rival gangs. The cartel has also recently increased their migrant smuggling operations in border regions. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. The boldness of the Mexican traffickers became evident when they murdered undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena in 1985. Purportedly, a larger percentage of Mexican methamphetamine is now made from entirely synthetic precursors instead of the natural compound ephedrine. Origins: The Sinaloa Cartel grew out of the splintering of the powerful Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s, later filling a power vacuum left by Colombian cartels in the early 1990s.The group became known for its creative tactics to smuggle drugs and evade prosecution, which was evident in two separate prison breaks by its notorious leader, Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, in 2001 and 2015. Wednesday, May 26th 2021. At the time, the power of the Colombian cartels was declining, partly because of the deaths of various drug lords, notably Pablo Escobar (died 1993), and the U.S. crackdown on drug trafficking in the Caribbean, then the preferred route for transporting drugs into the United States. Following the 2004 assassination of journalist Roberto Javier Mora Garca from El Maana newspaper, much of the local media has been cautious about their reporting of the fighting. by Luis Chaparro March 10, 2022, 5:58pm It was a telling day to bestow the measure of dishonor, a nod to the . [143], By 2005, the Beltrn-Leyva brothers, who were formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, had come to dominate drug trafficking across the border with Arizona. The message heralded the launch of "Operation . In December 2016, one month prior Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn Loera's extradition to the U.S.,[140] 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. The Milenio (Michoacn), Jalisco (Guadalajara), Sonora (Sonora), and Colima cartels were now branches of the Sinaloa Cartel. [69] 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. [187], American actor Sean Penn heard about the connection with Ms. del Castillo through a mutual acquaintance, and asked if he might come along to do an interview. 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 now siding with the Gulf to fight against Sinaloa. [179] In the same documentary it is shown that the US 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. same cartel runs Durango . Both were associated with the Sinaloa Cartel. In fact, apart from the state of . [95] 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. 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' Guzmn. [155], The Sinaloa Cartel has operations in the Philippines as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel has a presence in at least 22 of the 31 Mexican states, with important centers in Mexico City, Tepic, Toluca, Zacatecas, Guadalajara and most of the state of Sinaloa. [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. "[88] When Hctor Luis Palma Salazar was arrested on 23 June 1995, by the Mexican Army, his partner Joaqun Guzmn Loera took leadership of the cartel. Updates? Allies and Enemies. [91] On 29 July 2010, Ignacio Coronel was killed in a shootout with the Mexican military in Zapopan, Jalisco. [127][128], The Mexican government's conflict with the former Ejido Tampico dated back to 1970, when they expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) 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) $1.4million pesos ($112,000 U.S. dollars in 1970). [154] The focal point for Sinaloa in Chicago is the city's "Little Village" neighborhood. Perhaps they were connected to a rival gang, or didn't do their jobs correctly. This caused most of the organization's activities to be controlled and influenced directly from prison where the gang continued to recruit new members. He was extradited to the United States the following year. Its origins can be traced to the Guadalajara cartel, which was one of Mexicos largest crime organizations in the early 1980s. The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is an alliance of some of Mexico's top capos.