Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely-managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalised commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking organisations reached an agreement to coordinate the production and distribution of cocaine. Since that agreement was broken up drug cartels are no longer actually cartels in the proper sense of the word, but the term stuck and is now popularly used to refer to any criminal narcotics related organisation.
Drug cartels operate in many countries throughout Latin America, including Colombia, Brazil, Central America, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Mexico, Afghanistan and South Asia. Some cartels are even establishing themselves in U.S. cities like New York, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Diego.
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Colombia
Colombian or just Colombian cartels is a generic term that usually refers to three, usually rival, criminal organizations involved in narcotrafficking in Colombia:
- Medellín Cartel
- Cali Cartel
- Norte del Valle Cartel
- La Trini Cartel
It sometimes also refers to other, lesser-known criminal organizations:
- North Coast Cartel
- Bogotá Cartel
- Santander de Quilichao Cartel
Other organizations in Colombia involved in drug trafficking include:
- The Black Eagles
- AUC
- ELN
- FARC
Significant cartels in Mexico
- Gulf Cartel - based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
- Juárez Cartel - based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
- Sinaloa Cartel - based in Culiacán, Sinaloa
- Tijuana Cartel - based in Tijuana, Baja California
- La Familia Cartel - based in Morelia, Michoacán
- Beltrán-Leyva Cartel - based in Sinaloa
- Los Zetas - based in Reynosa, Tamaulipas
- Los Negros - based in Coahuila
Individuals associated with these organizations should be considered extremely dangerous. Appropriate caution should be taken if traveling to one of the areas mentioned.
Mexican Drug Cartel Timeline
References
- PBS. 2006. Frontline: Drug Wars.
- Worldpress.org. 2006. "Mexico: Drug Cartels a Growing Threat." Worldpress.org.
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