Mexican cartels have presence in up to 1,000 U.S. cities; their ‘drug capital’ is Chicago
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to the DEA, Mexican drug cartels continue to expand their presence and forge partnerships with other transnational gangs, U.S. street gangs, prison gangs, and Chinese money laundering organizations.
The DEA assesses that the following Mexican gangs as having the greatest drug trafficking impact on the United States: Sinaloa, Jalisco Nueva Generación, Tijuana, Juárez, Beltrán Leyva, Caballeros Templarios, La Familia Michoacana, Golfo and Los Zetas.
A Mexican government intelligence document states, that there are 9 “transnational criminal organizations” that have established alliances with U.S. gangs and have a presence in approximately 1,000 U.S. cities.
“The criminal activities of these Mexican transnational criminal organizations extend far beyond the towns and cities along the border, also along drug trafficking routes to 1,000 cities in the United States,” the document states.
The state of Texas, which shares 2,018 kilometers of border with Mexico, is one of the key points of entry for marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, fentanyl and heroin shipments, as well as the point from which the different distribution routes depart.
The document also indicates that the increase in violence in U.S. territory is related to drug trafficking from Mexico, as criminal organizations seek to control certain routes. “The criminal activities of these organizations go beyond drug trafficking and have a negative impact on the safety and well-being of U.S. citizens,” the report stated.
On the other hand, in February 2020, the DEA acknowledged the existence of domestic cartels and that they had taken power away from Mexican organizations. Polo Ruiz, DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC), said that there are drug cartels that are integrated and directed by Mexican nationals.
“Many of these organizations built their businesses in the northern part of the United States and have people in the southern part, which borders Mexico, to operate. They put them in charge of transportation and other logistical aspects,” the agent revealed. This has been detected in the last four or five years.
Sinaloa Cartel is one of the oldest and most successful drug cartels in Mexico. It is also the most significant drug trafficking organization in the United States.
Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is the youngest of the top 6 Mexican drug cartels. Based in the city of Guadalajara, CJNG is the fastest growing drug cartel and the second biggest player in the United States. This is probably not the last time you hear about CJNG as it is more willing to engage in violent confrontations with rival cartels and security forces.
Read: US-Mexico Drug War Ripe for Rethink Under Biden, Experts say
Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) is the third most significant Mexican drug cartel in the United States, followed by Juarez Cartel, Gulf Cartel, and Los Zetas Cartel. “Consistent with previous years, the Sinaloa Cartel maintains the widest national influence, with its most dominant positions along the West Coast, in the Midwest, and in the Northeast.
CJNG continues to be the Mexican cartel with second-most widespread national influence. BLO activities remain more dispersed throughout the United States, with heavier concentrations in areas with large heroin markets,” said the DEA.
These cartels primarily employ Mexican nationals to oversee their distribution operations in the United States. Their second choice for leadership positions are U.S. citizens of Mexican origin. They clearly don’t care about violating the employment discrimination laws.
According to the DEA, these Mexican drug cartels generate tens of billions of dollars every year and employ a multitude of financial transactions and arrangements to launder and smuggle their earnings into Mexico. “There has also been evidence of the utilization of cryptocurrencies by Mexican cartels as a means by which to transfer their wealth internationally” said the DEA.
Mexican drug cartels also convert wealthy Chinese nationals’ Renminbi (RMB) to US dollars at a lower rate than the prevailing market rate. Chinese nationals aren’t allowed to transfer their wealth outside of China, so they are willing to pay Mexican drug cartels a premium for the cartels’ US dollar cash holdings in exchange for RMB payments in China. We have no idea what the Mexican drug cartels do with all that RMB and how they smuggle all that cash out of China.
‘Insider Monkey’ ranked each American city by the number of different Mexican cartels that use as a distribution hub. In case of a tie, they rank the city with more powerful cartels higher. Here are the rankings using DEA’s data:
13. New Orleans
Los Zetas Cartel is the only Mexican cartel that uses New Orleans as a major hub. Los Zetas Cartel is the least influential of the 6 Mexican cartels, but this doesn’t mean that its members aren’t dangerous people.
12. Dallas
Los Zetas Cartel is also the only Mexican cartel that uses Dallas as a major hub.
11. Laredo
Los Zetas Cartel is also the only Mexican cartel that uses Laredo as a major hub.
10. Detroit
Gulf Cartel is the only Mexican cartel that uses Detroit as a major hub. Gulf Cartel is the 5th most influential Mexican drug cartel in the U.S..
9. Houston
Gulf Cartel is also the only Mexican cartel that uses Houston as a major hub.
8. Oklahoma City
Juarez Cartel is the only Mexican cartel that uses Oklahoma City as a major hub. It is the 4th most powerful Mexican drug cartel operating in the United States.
7. El Paso
Juarez Cartel is also the only Mexican cartel that uses El Paso as a major hub.
6. New York City
Jalisco New Generation Cartel is the only Mexican cartel that uses New York City as a major hub. Mexican cartels aren’t prevalent in New York City probably because smaller Colombian drug operations still supply large quantities of cocaine and heroin into New York City.
5. Denver
Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel both use Denver as a major distribution hub. Juarez Cartel is the fourth powerful Mexican drug Cartel operating in the U.S..
4. Phoenix
Sinaloa Cartel and Beltran-Leyva Organization both use Phoenix as a major distribution hub. Beltran-Leyva Organization is the third most powerful Mexican drug cartel in the U.S.
3. Atlanta
Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel both use Atlanta as a major distribution hub. Jalisco New Generation Cartel is the second most powerful Mexican cartel in the United States.
2. Los Angeles
We bet you were thinking that Los Angeles is the #1 city that is crowded by Mexican drug cartels. There are only 3 major Mexican drug cartels based in Los Angeles: Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and Beltran-Leyva Organization.
1. Chicago
Are you surprised to see Chicago at the top of this list? Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Beltran-Leyva Organization, and Juarez Cartel operate out of Chicago even though it is such a long distance from Mexico. Chicago isn’t the murder capital of the United States, but its reputation in this regard is pretty bad.
There were 750 murders in Chicago in 2016 and the rivalries among Mexican drug cartels and the gangs that help them distribute their illegal drugs definitely contributed to the Chicago’s murder tally. According to the latest calculations Chicago also has an average of 2.1 murders per day so far in 2020 and currently sits at the top of our list of 15 U.S. cities with the highest number of murders.
Source: DEA/Insider Monkey/Infobae
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