SUMMARY
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the major drug trafficking cartels in Mexico currently battling for control over territory and smuggling routes.
The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman-Loera, started out as a drug trafficker and air logistics expert for Felix-Gallardo’s Tijuana Cartel in the late 1980’s. When Felix-Gallardo was arrested in 1989, Guzman inherited some territory and created his own organisation. Guzman was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but continued to control the Sinaloa Cartel from within prison. In 2001 he bribed some prison guards and was smuggled out in a laundry truck. Although Guzman is still the official leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, the organisation is now said to be headed by Ismael Zambada, alias “El Mayo”. After more than a decade on the run Guzman was caught in a beach resort in Sinaloa state in the end of February 2014. However, in July 2015 Guzman managed to escape once again from a Mexican high security prison, this time through a tunnel. After almost six months on the run Guzman was captured and he is expected to be extradited to the US.
The cartel is based in Sinaloa state but controls much of the Pacific coast. Clashes between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel have primarily taken place in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guerrero and in the city of Nuevo Laredo. The cartel also fights the Juarez Cartel in Ciudad Juarez as well as in the rest of Chihuahua State. In 2010, reports stated that the Sinaloa Cartel had effectively taken control of Ciudad Juarez, but violence continued to increase.
Between May 2007 and May 2008 the Sinaloa Cartel had an agreement on splitting territory with the Gulf Cartel. When the deal collapsed, the fighting reached new levels. The Sinaloa cartel has also had an alliance with the Juarez Cartel but it broke down in 2007. Since 2010 the major cartels have reportedly assembled in two loose alliances; the Gulf Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco Cartel New Generation, Los Caballeros Templarios and La Barredora, on one side and Los Zetas, the Juarez Cartel, the Milenio Cartel, La Familia and the South Pacific Cartel, on the other. However, the Gulf Cartel has continued to fight the Sinaloa Cartel in some states. In 2010, the Sinaloa Cartel also gained ground in Baja California State, the traditional stronghold of the Tijuana Cartel.
The Sinaloa Cartel has also been called the federation and consists of a number of allied cartels, although the Guzman-Loera group is dominant. Other organisations that for periods of time have been included are the Milenio organisation, the Ismael Zambada organisation, the Juan Jose Esparragoza organisation, Los Pelones and Los Negros.
In May 2008 the Beltran Leyva brothers broke with Guzman as a result of Guzman’s suspected involvement in the capture of Alfredo Beltran Leyva in January. Heavy fighting erupted between the two factions after the Beltran Leyva gang killed Guzman’s son in Culiacan, Sinaloa on 8 May 2008. Since then, the Beltran Leyva Cartel has grown increasingly powerful and has been one of the major drug-trafficking organisations in Mexico.
Los Pelones and Los Negros are armed wings connected to the Sinaloa cartel and created as an answer to the Gulf Cartel’s armed wing Los Zetas. Los Negros was engaged in heavy fighting against Los Zetas in 2004 and 2005 and Los Pelones has been active in battles against Los Zetas, primarily in Guerrero state. Los Zetas officially split from the Gulf Cartel in early 2010, and is now battling the Sinaloa Cartel as an independent group.
The Sinaloa Cartel also controls several gangs used in the fighting against the Juarez Cartel in Ciudad Juarez, for instance Los Mexicles, Artist Assassins and Gente Nueva.
The Sinaloa Cartel has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
