In its National Drug Threat Assessment 2024, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) have a presence in all 50 states of the United States.
The DEA assures that The profits of the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG from fentanyl trafficking are in the order of billions of dollars each yearthanks to an extensive criminal network that extends through more than 40 countries and all 50 US states.
The report cites that “The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels control organized criminal networks around the world that play a role in the production and distribution of fentanyl, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs by the ton.”
“They operate extensive global supply chains, from precursor chemicals to production facilities, and run a complex network of conspirators that includes international shippers, cross-border shippers, corrupt officials, tunnel builders, shell companies, money launderers and others,” it warns.
In the same sense, he states thatThe hegemony of Sinaloa and Jalisco “has effectively eliminated all its competition in the US market,” In other words, both criminal organizations monopolize the illicit drug market in the United States.
Such conclusions warn of a clear contradiction to the official version of the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which has insisted that “fentanyl is not produced in Mexico” and that it is only an intermediate link in the long trafficking chain that begins in Asia.
However, the agency highlighted the role of the Mexican Navy, after assuming customs control and surveillance of the country’s main ports, by ensuring that it is the criminal groups that really controlled the port terminals.
In a widespread survey of the country, the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment establishes that The shift from plant-based drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, to chemical-based synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced.“.
Under that approach, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram reiterates that “At the center of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, whom the DEA is tracking around the world. Suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and money launderers play a role in the network of deliberate and calculated betrayal orchestrated by these cartels. “The DEA will continue to use all available resources to attack these networks and save American lives.”
Drug-related deaths are estimated to have claimed 107,941 American lives in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are responsible for approximately 70% of lives lost, while methamphetamine and other synthetic stimulants are responsible for approximately 30% of deaths.
Sinaloa, a divided and powerful cartel
According to the DEA report, the Sinaloa Cartel does not have a leader, after Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was arrested and Ismael Mayo Zambada would be in poor health.
However, it details that the criminal organization has divided into four separate factions, but they cooperate with each other. “In theory, this structure allows the ringleaders of each independent group to share resources, such as smuggling routes, contacts, access to suppliers of illegal substances and money laundering networks, without having to divide the profits or have to answer to a chain of main command”, is stated in the report.
The DEA claims that the Sinaloa Cartel has been trafficking fentanyl since 2012, long before the United States put the synthetic drug at the top of its priority list.
CJNG, a franchise model
A decade since its formation, The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) managed to become one of the two Mexican criminal organizations with the greatest power in the national territory. and in the world; The key to its success on the drug trafficking map is due to the use of a solid financial structure and the sale of franchises to reach hundreds of municipalities throughout the country.
The report mentioned that the Jalisco Cartel ““It has its own connections with precursor chemical suppliers in China for the production of fentanyl and methamphetamine and exercises control over several seaports to import the chemicals.”
On the issue of the distribution of narcotics to US soil, the DEA reported that “the sale of drugs is made possible through encrypted and open messaging applications and social networks, used by both cartel members and street traffickers to advertise, organize deliveries and receive payments quickly, all on a single device and with minimal exposure.”
That is, this franchise system which allowed rapid economic growth to finance the purchase of weapons and the deployment of its men in the areas of greatest conflict, mainly with the Sinaloa, Santa Rosa de Lima, Familia Michoacana and Cárteles Unidos cartels.
The document indicated that both Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels “have caused the worst drug crisis in the history of the United States. They dictate the flow of nearly all illicit drugs into the United States, and their dominance over the synthetic drug trade in particular is evident in the relentless flow of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine across the border” into their markets.
In its report, the DEA specifies that the CJNG franchise model also represents a certain level of risk for the criminal organization commanded by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho”, mainly because its franchisees can forge their own alliances with local groups, thus harming other groups related to or that respond to the Jalisco group.
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