The Sinaloa Cartel’s reputation as perhaps the most powerful and feared criminal organization in the world. In recent years, it has come under extreme criticism and duress from joint U.S. and Mexican government authorities. The U.S. government has designated the cartel a foreign terrorist organization. This decision underscores its infamy and extensive complicity in trafficking drugs, particularly in the manufacture of fentanyl. This designation came on the heels of major arrests inside the Sinaloa cartel. Last July in Texas, government officials arrested two of its top leaders.
Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo,” and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of infamous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, were apprehended, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing battle against this criminal network. The Sinaloa Cartel remains the most dominant and powerful cartel in Mexico, including among its home base of Sinaloa state. This once beautiful region has turned into a war zone for an unregulated and merciless vendetta war and violent crime.
The Impact of Leadership Arrests
The recent arrests of Zambada and Guzmán López have led to questions regarding the future stability of the Sinaloa Cartel. For nearly two decades, the Mexican military has battled against the cartel with limited results, yet these high-profile captures may signal a turning point. The cartel’s operations have been severely impacted by these arrests, particularly due to internal betrayals that led to Guzmán López’s capture.
“The pressure from the Trump administration has translated into tangible results here, into better coordination that translates into all these issues of inhibiting criminal activity, especially its firepower,” said Miguel Calderón, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in combating cartel activities.
Even with these efforts, the Sinaloa Cartel still holds its matrix of intricate production and distribution systems. To avoid being tracked, it shifts sites where each part of production occurs, keeping its production going without interruption. To manufacture methamphetamine and fentanyl, the cartel runs dozens of clandestine labs throughout Sinaloa. Their acts continue to stoke the raging opioid epidemic in the U.S.
“Of course, of course, things are sad. (But) you have to continue… Families have to eat,” – The Sinaloa Cartel member
This brief testimony sheds light on the real dangers faced by participants on the ground in the cartel business. Instead, CSOs are now under increasing pressure from law enforcement agencies.
Violence in Culiacán
Over time, Culiacán gained notoriety as an epicenter of violence connected to the Sinaloa Cartel. Over 1,200 men, women, and children have died needlessly just in the past year. The latter deaths were due to violent confrontations between opposing groups. The fight has become so bad that even the cartel’s previously held rules of engagement have been thrown out.
Alma Aispuro, who recently lost her sister to cartel-related violence, expressed deep fears for her family and community:
“After my sister, that same day we found her dead, five women disappeared, including girls and others the same age as my sister. And we’re afraid, honestly, I’m afraid. I’m afraid for my family. I’m afraid to be a woman in Mexico, and I’m afraid that no one will help us, no one will listen to us, and that no one cares about us,” – Alma
Her heartfelt comments emphasize the tragic reality that thousands of families across Culiacán are being held hostage by the violence continuing to rise around them.
Alma reflected on how the ongoing war has changed the dynamics within the community:
“But the violence raging here in Culiacán led to this happening. Because before the war we’re experiencing now, there were codes — and women and children were respected. After the war, those codes no longer exist,” – Alma
Her words could be easily spoken by many currently experiencing these stormy times.
Ongoing Challenges for Law Enforcement
This protracted struggle against cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel has repeatedly failed to show success on the Mexican military’s part. Even when law enforcement succeeds in shutting down their operations, the battle is still uphill with the cartel’s vast resources and entrenched power running deep.
Brigadier General Porfirio Fuentes Vélez remarked on the complexity of combating such entrenched criminal networks:
“This literally never happens,” – Brigadier General Porfirio Fuentes Vélez
If true, this statement points to the extreme rarity of success when going up against an organization as robust as the Sinaloa Cartel. However, hundreds of soldiers and Federal Police are deployed in Sinaloa state. Yet they are diving deep into the trenches to fight this insidious epidemic.
It’s an argument that the Mexican government has adopted in recent months, claiming that fentanyl is not manufactured in Mexico. Interviews with cartel members paint a different picture. One member confirmed that fentanyl production is indeed taking place in Mexico, further complicating the narrative surrounding drug trafficking in the region.
