A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking organizations reached an agreement to coordinate the production and distribution of cocaine.[citation needed] Since that agreement was broken up,[citation needed] drug cartels are no longer actually cartels, but the term stuck and it is now popularly used to refer to any criminal narcotics related organization.
The basic structure of a drug cartel is as follows:
There are other operating groups within the drug cartels. For example, the drug producers and suppliers,[6] although not considered in the basic structure, are critical operators of any drug cartel, along with the financiers and money launderers.[7][8][9] In addition, the arms suppliers operate in a completely different circle,[10] and are technically not considered part of the cartel's logistics.
See also: Taxi wars in South Africa, blood diamond, Kivu conflict § Conflict minerals, Barbary Coast, Piracy in Somalia, Al-Shabaab (militant group), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Boko Haram |
See also: Illegal drug trade in Latin America |
Not to be confused with Mexican Mafia. |
Mexican cartels (also known in Mexico as: la Mafia (the mafia or the mob), La Maña (the skill / the bad manners),[21] narcotraficantes (narco-traffickers), or simply as narcos usually refers to several, rival, criminal organizations that are combated by the Mexican government in the Mexican War on Drugs (List sorted by branches and heritage):[22] The DEA considers (2020) the Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Organización Beltrán Leyva, Cartel del Noreste y Los Zetas, Guerreros Unidos, Cártel del Golfo, Cártel de Juárez y La Línea, La Familia Michoacana, Los Rojos the most influential cartels in Mexico.[23]
The United States of America is the world's largest consumer of cocaine[67] and other illegal drugs.[68][69][70] This is a list of American criminal organizations involved in illegal drug traffic, drug trade and other related crimes in the United States:
Italian immigrants to the United States in the early 19th century formed various small-time gangs which gradually evolved into sophisticated crime syndicates which dominated organized crime in America for several decades. Although government crackdowns and a less-tightly knit Italian-American community have largely reduced their power, they remain an active force in the underworld.
See also: Piracy in the Caribbean and Illegal drugs in Puerto Rico |
Main article: Illegal drug trade in Colombia |
Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine on the planet,[94] Cocaine production in Colombia reached an all-time high in 2017.[95]
Active Colombian Drug Cartels.
Historical Colombian Drug Cartels.
Historically Venezuela has been a path to the United States for illegal drugs originating in Colombia, through Central America and Mexico and Caribbean countries such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.
According to the United Nations, there has been an increase of cocaine trafficking through Venezuela since 2002.[96] In 2005, Venezuela severed ties with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), accusing its representatives of spying.[97] Following the departure of the DEA from Venezuela and the expansion of DEA's partnership with Colombia in 2005, Venezuela became more attractive to drug traffickers.[98] Between 2008 and 2012, Venezuela's cocaine seizure ranking among other countries declined, going from being ranked fourth in the world for cocaine seizures in 2008[99] to sixth in the world in 2012.[100] The cartel groups involved include:
Pasquale, Paolo and Gaspare Cuntrera were expelled from Venezuela in 1992, "almost secretly smuggled out of the country, as if it concerned one of their own drug transports. It was imperative they could not contact people on the outside who could have used their political connections to stop the expulsion." Their expulsion was ordered by a commission of the Venezuelan Senate headed by Senator Cristobal Fernandez Dalo and his money laundering investigator, Thor Halvorssen Hellum. They were arrested in September 1992 at Fiumicino airport (Rome),[102][103] and in 1996 were sentenced to 13–20 years.[101]
In May 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported from United States officials that drug trafficking in Venezuela increased significantly with Colombian drug traffickers moving from Colombia to Venezuela due to pressure from law enforcement.[107] One United States Department of Justice official described the higher ranks of the Venezuelan government and military as "a criminal organization", with high ranking Venezuelan officials, such as National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, being accused of drug trafficking.[107] Those involved with investigations stated that Venezuelan government defectors and former traffickers had given information to investigators and that details of those involved in government drug trafficking were increasing.[107]
See also Kenji Doihara's criminal activities
The yakuza of Japan are similar to the Italian mafias in that they originated centuries ago and follow a rigid set of traditions, but have several aspects that make them unique, such as their full-body tattoos and their fairly open place in Japanese society. Many yakuza groups are umbrella organizations, smaller gangs reporting to a larger crime syndicate.
See also: Tiandihui and Kuomintang in Burma § CIA connection and opium trade |
The Triads is a popular name for a number of Chinese criminal secret societies, which have existed in various forms over the centuries (see for example Tiandihui). However, not all Chinese gangs fall into line with these traditional groups, as many non-traditional criminal organizations have formed, both in China and the Chinese diaspora.
See also: List of drug cartels in Asia and Manchukuo § Drug trafficking |
See also: Piracy in the Strait of Malacca |
See also: Haqqani Network and Zomi Revolutionary Army |
See also: Shabeeha, al-Qaeda in Iraq, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and Piracy in the Persian Gulf |
Although organized crime existed in the Soviet era, the gangs really gained in power and international reach during the transition to capitalism. The term Russian Mafia, 'mafiya' or mob is a blanket (and somewhat inaccurate) term for the various organized crime groups that emerged in this period from the 15 former republics of the USSR and unlike their Italian counterparts does not mean members are necessarily of Russian ethnicity or uphold any ancient criminal traditions, although this is the case for some members.
See also Caucasus Emirate
Balkan organized crime gained prominence in the chaos following the communist era, notably the transition to capitalism and the wars in former Yugoslavia.
See also: List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army and Ulster loyalism § Paramilitary and vigilante groups |
See also: Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union and Nugan Hand Bank |