REPORT: These are the Mexican Drug Cartels Who are FLOODING America with Drugs

In an annual report that it recently released, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration identified nine Mexican drug cartels as the principal entities behind the flood of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine into the country. 

The DEA’s 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment was published March 2, 2021 and illustrated how Mexico’s leading cartels operate.

The following map from the Daily Mail highlighted the “spheres of influence” the cartels hold and where they have strong commercial interests in the United States.

The map demonstrated that the Sinaloa Cartel — the cartel  notorious drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera founded — and the competing Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) were the principal criminal syndicates transporting drugs and projecting their criminal influence into the US in 2020.

According to the DEA report, the Sinaloa cartel apparently controls smuggling routes in Arizona and California, while CJNG controls the Mexican port of Manzanillo for its smuggling operations.

The Daily Mail reported that “other key players” listed in the DEA report included “the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel] and Los Zetas, Guerreros Unidos [United Warriors], Juaréz Cartel and La Línea, and La Familia Michoacana.”

“Mexican TCOs [transnational criminal organizations] are the greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States,” the DEA observed in the report.

“They control most of the U.S. drug market and have established varied transportation routes, have advanced communications capabilities, and hold strong affiliations with criminal groups and gangs in the United States.”

What was most striking about the DEA report was the continued strength of the Sinaloa Cartel, whose legendary co-founder Joquin “El Chapo” Guzmán is spending life behind bars at the Colorado super maximum security prison. The Sinaloa Cartel’s control on the sale and trafficking of drug across America has not slipped, as it has significant influence in 24 states and Washington, D.C.