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Sinaloa Cartel

Mexico's dominant cartel since the 1990s.

Sinaloa Cartel

via Wikipedia: Sinaloa Cartel · see source

The Sinaloa Cartel is a transnational drug trafficking syndicate based in Culiacan, Sinaloa, and has been Mexico's most dominant cartel since the 1990s. Pedro Aviles Perez founded it in the late 1960s to smuggle cannabis into the United States, pioneering the use of aircraft for drug smuggling.

Quick Facts

Named after
Sinaloa, Mexico
Founding location
Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Years active
1987–present
Leaders
  • Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar
  • Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar
  • Ismael Zambada Sicairos
  • Aureliano Guzmán Loera

Reader's Guide

After Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, was arrested in 1989, his organisation splintered and the Sinaloa Cartel emerged as one of its successors. Under leaders such as Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman it expanded through the 1990s and 2000s and fought the Tijuana and Gulf cartels and later the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. In Narcos: Mexico, Alejandro Edda plays El Chapo as a member of the Sinaloa cartel rising through the ranks.

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