MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS

Mexican Drug Cartels

Mexican Drug Cartels

Introduction

According to the Mexican government there are seven drug cartels1 operating in Mexico. The Mexican government reports that the major cartels - Gulf, Sinaloa, and Juárez -- are present in much of Mexico. The Juárez cartel has been found in 21 Mexican states and its principle bases are: Culiacán, Sinaloa; Monterrey, Nuevo León; the cities of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and Ojinaga, Chihuahua; Mexico City; Guadalajara, Jalisco; Cuernavaca, Morelos; and Cancún, Quintana Roo. The Sinaloa cartel has a presence in 17 states, with important centers in Mexico City; Tepic, Nayarit; Toluca and Cuautitlán, Mexico State; and most of the state of Sinaloa. The Gulf cartel is present in 13 states with important areas of operation in the cities of Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Alemán, Reynosa, and Matamoros in the northern state of Tamaulipas. The Gulf cartel also has important operations in Monterrey in Nuevo León; and Morelia in Michoacán. In addition, the Tijuana cartel is present in at least 15 states with important areas of operation in Tijuana, Mexicali, Tecate, and Ensenada in Baja California and in parts of Sinaloa. In recent years, the major cartels have formed alliances with one another; the two rival alliances now compete for turf. The Tijuana cartel formed an alliance with the Gulf cartel as a result of prison negotiations by their leaders. Several cartels have also formed an alliance known as "The Federation." The Federation is led by representatives of the Sinaloa, Juárez, and Valencia cartels. The cartels work together, but remain independent organizations. In August 2006, Mexico's Deputy Attorney General for organized crime, José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, indicated that this reorganization, and mounting violence, are the result of Mexico's success in capturing cartel leadership.

Bilateral Efforts Against Mexican Drug Cartels

On April 16, President Obama made his first trip to Mexico and his first to Latin America to highlight and reinforce the United States' commitment to work with Mexico on a broad range of issues, in particular on meeting our shared security challenges. The United States and Mexico are committed to a new approach in our bilateral relationship based on comprehensive engagement and shared responsibility. The President discussed with President Calderon a number of important steps the United States intends to take to deepen the cooperation we have with Mexico as our neighbor and partner.

* Merida Initiative. The Merida Initiative is a $1.4 billion, multi-year package that aims to strengthen regional security cooperation with Mexico and the nations of Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti in their fight against drug and arms trafficking and other transnational organized crimes. For Mexico, the U.S. Congress has provided $700 million of the $1.4 billion multi-year commitment. The Fiscal Year 2009 Spring Supplemental includes $66 million to procure urgently needed Blackhawk helicopters to transport Mexican soldiers combating cartel activities. The Fiscal Year 2010 budget request includes $450 million for the next tranche of funding. Should Congress fully fund these requests, we anticipate requesting the remaining funding to fulfill the ...