Mexican Drug Cartels

From WolfWikis

Trafficking Organizations in the 1930's-1960's

When opium was prohibited in the U.S.A. it was still legal in Mexico. Men who would commercialize it were criminals on one side of the border and legitimate traders on the other. When Mexico outlawed opium soon after the U.S.A., new social category was born: the drug trafficker. Alcohol prohibition in the U.S.A. (1920-1933) left a great demand for alcohol in the US, which in turn made alcohol smuggling a very profitable business.^[1] As Al Capone made a name for himself as a gangster in the US, he also became a legend in Mexico, being compared to notable drug trafficker in Mexico Enrique Fernandez, from the city of Juarez. Fernandez made pacts with many politicians, who in return helped him evade the law. “Interim governor (1929-1930) from Chihuahua, Luis Leon (Secretary of Agriculture under Calles government and of Industry and Commerce under Ortiz Rubio) helped him get out of the Islas Marías prison” ^[1] In the thirties through the fifties Maria Dolores Estevez, known as "Lola la Chata", was the most important drug trafficker operating in Mexico City. Captain Luis Huesca de la Fuente, ex-chief of the Narcotics Police, was sent to jail, accused of having stolen the drugs he seized and of having protected la "Chata".^[2] In Baja California, Dr. Bernardo Batiz, member of the Health Department, “suspected high ranking officials from the local governments of protecting traffickers and sending them to prison only when they became greedy”.

^[3] Infamous trafficker, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo began his trafficker career in the fifties. In the sixties, Eduardo Fernández, Pedro Avilés and Jorge Favela, were some included in a large list of traffickers from the state of sinaloa (large drug producing state) in Mexico. After World War 2, traffickers from Sinaloa became the most important in the country, smuggling opium, marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines, depending on the demand.^[1]

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo

In the seventies, Miguel Angel Félix Gallardo, was the most prolific name in drug trafficking.^[2] Félix G. was born in Culiacan, Sinaloa’s capital. Felix G. worked as a cop for many years and was assigned to the governor’s house where he became the family bodyguard. The governor of Sinaloa Leopoldo Sánchez Celis (1963-1968) was his godfather when he got married. According to the DEA, Félix G., became the number one cocaine trafficker in Mexico starting in the mid-seventies.^[4] He lived as a respectable and respected entrepreneur for many years. His relationship with ex-governor Celis facilitated his political and business contacts. In 1976 there was an arrest order against him in Tijuana, but nothing was done. The charges were heroin and cocaine trafficking. He was protected by an important narcotics official, said the DEA. Starting in 1971 he accumulated at least fourteen arrest orders. Felix G. finally got taken down in 1989. Felix G. is noted for the uprising start of the numerous drug cartels, such as the AFO, that plague Mexico to this date. ^[5]

Drug Cartels

Mexican trafficking organizations, aka Drug Cartels, smuggle large amounts of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and amphetamine into the United States.Law enforcement and intelligence community sources estimate that 65 percent of the cocaine shipped to the United States moves through the Central America-Mexico corridor, primarily by ships operating in the eastern Pacific. Colombian traffickers utilize fishing vessels to transport bulk shipments of cocaine from Colombia to the west coast of Mexico and, to a lesser extent, the Yucatan Peninsula. ^[4] The cocaine is loaded off fast vessels for the final shipment to the Mexican coast. The loads are subsequently broken down into smaller quantities to be moved across the Southwest border.According to Mexican Government there are 7 drug cartels operating in Mexico, but there are 3 that control most of the power. The top cartels include; The Tijuana Cartel, The Juarez Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel.^[5]

The Arellano-Felix Organization "Tijuana Cartel"

The Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO), often referred to as the Tijuana Cartel, is one of the most powerful and aggressive drug trafficking organizations operating from Mexico; it is undeniably the most violent. More than any other major trafficking organization from Mexico, this organization extends its reach directly from high-powered figures in the law enforcement and judicial systems in Mexico to street-level individuals in United States cities. The AFO is responsible for the transportation, importation and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine, marijuana, as well as large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine, into the United States from Mexico.^[4] The AFO operates primarily in the Mexican states of Sinaloa (their birth place), Jalisco, Michoacan, Chiapas, and Baja California South and North. From Baja, the drugs enter California, the primary point of embarkation into the United States distribution network.The ARELLANO family, composed of seven brothers and four sisters, inherited the organization from Miguel Angel FELIX-Gallardo upon his incarceration in Mexico in 1989 for his complicity in the murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena. Alberto Benjamin ARELLANO-Felix assumed leadership of the family structured criminal enterprise and provides a businessman's approach to the management of drug trafficking operations.The AFO suffered serious setbacks during 2002 as a result of stepped up enforcement on both sides of the U.S. border and attacks by rival drug trafficking networks.^[5] "In February and March, the AFO’s was dealt two huge blows: the murder of its notorious and brutal enforcer, Ramón Arellano-Felix on February 10, 2002, and the arrest of its overall chief of operations, Benjamin Arellano-Felix, on March 9, 2002. In addition to these losses in the AFO’s core organization, Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha claimed in June 2002 that more than 2,000 AFO-affiliated personnel had been arrested over an 18-month period". ^[2]

The Cárdenas Guillén Organization "Gulf Cartel"

Along with the Arellano Félix (AFO) and Carillo Fuentes (CFO) organizations, the Cárdenas Guillén organization (CGO) has been one of the three enduring pillars of the Mexican drug trafficking scene. The CGO is headquartered in the northern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. "It has a presence in ten Mexican states, and accounts for approximately 15 percent of the cocaine trafficked into the United States through Mexico".^[4] According to reports citing the office of Mexico’s attorney general, the CGO moves drugs into the United States through Texas and delivers them as far north as New York and Michigan. As a result of aggressive enforcement by Mexican federal authorities, the CGO hasundergone several cycles of core leadership loss and replacement since its co-founder, Juan García Abrego, was extradited to the United States in 1997 New leaders, including current head Osiel Cárdenas Guillen, have emerged from among a loose coalition of regional drug barons who trace their origins to the Matamoros-based trafficking network created by García Abrego and Juan N. Guerra during the 1980s.^[4]

The Carrillo Fuentes Organization "Juarez Cartel"

The Carrillo-Fuentes Organization (CFO), or Juarez Cartel, has eclipsed both the AFO and the Gulf cartel as the most powerful and geographically extensive Mexico-based polydrug trafficking organization.^[4] Mexico's most powerful drug trafficker in recent years was Amado Carrillo-Fuentes who died in a Mexican hospital in July 1997 after undergoing extensive plastic surgery to change his appearance. In his final days Carrillo was being tracked intensively by Mexican and US authorities. Carrillo allegedly had ties to Mexico's former Commissioner of the INCD (National Institute to Combat Drugs), Gutierrez-Rebollo. His organized crime group, based in Juarez, is associated with the Rodriguez-Orejuela organization and the Ochoa brothers, from Medellin. Carrillo's organization is involved in heroin and marijuana trafficking and handles large cocaine shipments from Colombia. Their regional bases in Guadalajara, Hermosillo and Torreon serve as storage locations where later the drugs are moved closer to the border for eventual shipment into the United States.^[5]

The scope of the Carrillo-Fuentes'network is staggering; he reportedly forwarded $20-30 million to Colombia for each major operation, and his illegal activities generated tens of millions per week. He was a pioneer in the use of large aircraft to transport cocaine from Colombia to Mexico and became known as 'Lord of the Skies.' Carrillo-Fuentes owned a fleet of aircraft and had major real estate holdings.^[5]

Like his Colombian counterparts, Carrillo-Fuentes was sophisticated in the use of technology and counter surveillance methods. His network employed state of the art communications devices to conduct business. His organization had become so powerful he was even seeking to expand his markets into traditional Colombian strongholds on the east coast of the United States.^[5]

Conclusion

Traffickers operating from Mexico now control wholesale cocaine distribution throughout the western and Midwestern United States. In cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, Mexico-based trafficking groups now control the distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine.^[1] In the early 1990s, when the organized crime groups from Mexico were expanding their roles as cocaine transporters and wholesale-level distributors, most of their U.S.-based command and control operations were in southern California. Today, Chicago is also a key command and control center for their cocaine operations. Currently, these traffickers control cocaine shipments from the time they are smuggled across the border until they are distributed to markets across the United States.^[3]

References

Annotated Bibliography

Astorga, Luis, “Drug Trafficking in Mexico” http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/504/504%20luis%20astorga.htm accessed on Nov 21, 2007.

Cook, Colleen, “Mexico’s Drug Cartels”. CRS Report for Congress. Oct. 16, 2007. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34215.pdf. Accessed on Nov. 25, 2007

Edberg, Mark, “Drug Traffickers as Social Bandits”. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 17, No. 3, 259-277 (2001). http://ccj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1/3/259 . accessed on Nov. 25, 2007.

Krauss, Clifford, “Drug Cartels From Mexico Make Inroads.” The New York Times, Apr. 20, 1997. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980E2D7163EF933A15757C0A961958260. Accessed on Nov. 25, 2007.

“Murder Money and Mexico” pbs.org www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mexico/etc/maps.html. accessed on Nov 26, 2007.