Mexican Drug Cartels Briefing

Juárez Cartel

According to the authorities, this cartel operates in 21 states: Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nueva Leon, Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Michoacan, Queretaro, Morelos, Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

The main centres of operation are in Juárez City, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Culiacán, Monterrey, Mexico City, Cuernavaca and Cancún.

Colima Cartel

The area of influence of the Colima Cartel is concentrated in seven states: Baja California, Nuevo León, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Michoacán and Mexico City.

Its main operating centres are in Colima, Tijuana, Guadalajara and Apatzingán.

Gulf Cartel

According to PGR (Attorney General?s Office) the Gulf Cartel has influence in Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Reynosa and Miguel Alemán in Tamaulipas, as well as Morelia and Michoacán.

Oaxaca Cartel

The influence of the Oaxaca Cartel covers the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Tamaulipas, Mexico City, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Sinaloa Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel operates in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Narayit, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Colima, Guanajuato, Mexico state, Morelos, Mexico City, Guerrero, Chiapas and Quintana Roo.

Its main centres of operations are in Tepic, Narayit, Mexico City, Cuatitlan and Toluca.

Valencia Cartel

The Valencia Cartel operates in the states of Nueva Leon, Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan and Mexico City.

The authorities believe their main activities are in Guadalajara.

Tijuana Cartel

 

According to data provided by the Attorney General?s Office, the Tijuana cartel operates mainly in Baja California, more specifically in Tijuana, Mexicali, Tecate, Ensenada and El Valle.

It is also active in Mazatlán, Culiacán and La Noria, in Sinaloa state.

Violence

According to the Attorney General's Office (PGR), 2,673 people died in 2007 directly as a result of drug-related violence. By August 2008 a total of 2,996 executions had been carried out.

Press reports indicate that there is one assassination every 85 minutes.

The Attorney General?s Office reports that 22 members of the military were killed in 2006 and by 2007 the numbers rose to 33. By June 2008 the figure was 24.

By July 2008, a total of 42 police officers and federal agents died fighting drug crime

Illegal Drugs

In the last few years the production and movement of drugs has increased, according to some international organisations.

Efforts to seize and destroy illegal drugs have also expanded.

Cocaine

A Federal government report, published on the Attorney General´s (PGR) website revealed that between 1 December 2006 and 31 August 2008, 61,515 Kg of cocaine had been confiscated.

The Secretary for National Defence revealed that up to 16 September, 3,694.1 Kg of cocaine had been intercepted.

Opium and Heroin

According to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), opium cultivation has increased in Mexico from 3,300 hectares in 2005 to 5,100 in 2006.

And by 2006 the country had become the third largest heroin producer in the world after Afghanistan and Burma. Production has risen from 6.8 tonnes in 2002 to 12.7 tonnes in 2006.

The Secretary for National Defence indicated that this year 47.5 Kg of opium paste and 95.4 Kg of heroin have been intercepted.

The same body also indicated that so far this year (16 September 2008) the eradication of poppy cultivation reached 7,778.2 hectares.

And fumigation covered 449.3 hectares per year.

Marijuana

According to the UN, Mexico is the principal foreign supplier of marijuana to the US. When the drug enters the country it is mainly through the border with Mexico and the state of Arizona.

Mexico produces 1,200 Kg/per hectare of marijuana. (2006 figures).

The Secretary for National Defence revealed that up to 16 September this year, the eradication of marijuana crops reached 9,173.2 hectares per year.

And fumigation covered 1,411.2 hectares per year.

Methamphetamines

According to the UN, Mexico is the main supplier of methamphetamines to the US. The production of these drugs has remained stable since 2006.

After China, Thailand, the US, Taiwan and the Philippines, Mexico is sixth in the world in the number of seizures of the drug.

The Mexican government indicated that 1,205.06 kilos of methamphetamines and 42,325.19 kilos of precursor chemicals of the drug were intercepted between 1 December 2006 and 31 August 2008.

Government action

Since Felipe Calderon came to power in December 2006, the war against drugs has intensified in Mexico.

This is reflected in the thousands of arrests and huge confiscation of arms caches, as well as the destruction of illicit crops and interception of illegal drugs.

Troop deployment

According to the Secretary for National Defence, the Mexican army has deployed an average of 45,000 soldiers across the country in an effort to combat the drug traffickers.

Operations

The Mexican Government has revealed that so far this year, 14 anti-drug operations have taken place across the country. Principally in the states of Aguascalientes, Baja California, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guerrero, Michoacan, Nueva Leon, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Veracruz.

At the same time, permanent engagements are being carried out in Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua, Michoacan, Guerrero, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas as well as Tijuana.

Arrests and confiscation

Arrests
2005: 28,651
2006: 18,901
2007: 23,120
2008: 16,907 (January-August)


CONFISCATIONS

Hand guns
2005: 3,156
2006: 2,487
2007: 4,494
2008: 4,604 (January-August)

Rifles
2005: 1,959
2006: 1,733
2007: 4,322
2008: 6,216 (January-August)


Ammunition
2005: 299,498
2006: 402,172
2007: 726,297
2008: 1.153,128 (January-August)

Grenades
2005: 44
2006: 62
2007: 547
2008: 805 (January-August)

Land vehicles
2005: 3,418
2006: 2,459
2007: 4,437
2008: 5,142 (January-August)

Aircraft
2005: 10
2006: 16
2007: 57
2008: 228 (January-August)

The Merida Plan

The security and justice budget of the Mexican government in 2007 was approximately US$5,779 million. In 2008 the figure increased to US$6,653 million.

In the fight against drug trafficking, the US has launched the Merida Initiative, over the next three years, to provide an aid package of US$1,600 million to combat crime in Mexico and Central America.

Mexico is expected to receive US$400 million in the first year.

The Routes

 

The main cocaine trafficking route originates in the South American Andean region, principally Colombia, and reaches the US using Mexico as the principal transit point.

In fact, 90% of the cocaine entering the US arrives via the so-called ?Central America/Mexico Corridor? which in turn has several vectors.

The drugs route from Colombia and other parts of South America which passes through Mexico has three vectors: the Pacific, the Caribbean and that which goes through Central American territories.

In 2006, 54% of cocaine seized in Mexico was intercepted on land.

In the same year, 44% of the drug was intercepted at sea.