Vol. 34 Staff Member, Minnesota Journal of International Law
The 2024 arrest of the current leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, along with one of the Juaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s sons has undeniably stirred up a hornet’s nest in northwestern Mexico. El Chapo, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel who was arrested in Mexico in 2014 on various drug and smuggling charges, rose to notoriety when he escaped from prison via an underground tunnel dug under the prison he was being held at. He was re-arrested in 2016, finally being extradited to the United States in 2017.[1] In 2019, El Chapo was convicted on 26 drug-related violations by a federal jury and sentenced to life in prison plus thirty years—he’s currently being held in federal custody at the “Alcatraz of the Rockies” in Florence, Colorado, along with the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the late Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.[2]
The conviction of El Chapo left his second-in-command, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, in charge. However, with both El Chapo and El Mayo currently under federal U.S. custody and no ‘heir-apparent’ to the cartel’s throne—as both of El Chapo’s sons were recently taken into federal custody—a power vacuum formed at the head of the Sinaloa Cartel and a war began among those who wish to take their seats of power by force.[3]
The Sinaloa Cartel’s zone of influence ranges from Baja California to western Texas and as south as lower Sinaloa state; the total area of the cartel-controlled territory is almost as large as Texas itself.[4] The international ports of entry the cartel currently operates on run from San Diego to Big Bend National Park, with San Diego and El Paso providing immediate American interstate access via I-5 and I-10, respectively.[5] The total revenue for the industry according to a 2018 report was estimated to be as high as $3 billion annually in 2012; their control of the drug trade in Mexico had grown to as high as 60% by the same year.[6] Suffice to say that a criminal organization similar in land area and estimated GDP to that of Sierra Leone has made quite the prize for whoever can win control.[7]
Since El Mayo was apprehended—whom that was by is a different discussion—more than 30 people were reported dead in the course of a week earlier in September, with some estimating that number could actually be closer to 100 deaths per day due to the cartel struggle.[8] One resident living in the heart of Sinaloa paints a distressing reality: “What is happening in Culiacán is not normal; there are shootings day and night, the economy has collapsed, many people have lost their jobs and the violence is out of control.”[9] Warring cartel factions have been reported to utilize drone bombings against state police, and though Mexico only boasts one gun store in the entire country accessible only to its military, the warring cartels have been known to outgun and outmaneuver Mexico’s federal forces time and time again.[10]
Ken Salazar, the current U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has rejected claims from Mexico’s president that the U.S. is “co-responsible” for the current violent state of Sinaloa.[11] El Mayo’s capture has once again strained relations between both countries, with Mexico demanding to know how such a high-profile figure was extradited to U.S. soil under their noses, and the U.S., once again, denying involvement in the entire affair. The fallout from this episode should remain closely monitored and, hopefully within the American security interests.
[1] Justice Department Announces Charges Against Sinaloa Cartel’s Global Operation, US DOJ (Apr. 14, 2023), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-against-sinaloa-cartel-s-global-operation; see also Luis P. Beauregard, Ismael ‘Mayo’ Zambada, the Great Mexican Drug Lord and Founder of the Sinaloa Cartel Who Never Set Foot in Prison, Arrested in Texas, El País (July 25, 2024), https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-26/mayo-zambada-the-great-mexican-drug-lord-and-founder-of-the-sinaloa-cartel-who-never-set-foot-in-prison-arrested-in-texas.html.
[2] Beauregard, supra note 1; see Kirk Mitchell, Colorado’s Supermax Prison Now Occupied by El Chapo is “Worse Than Death,” Ex-warden Says, Denver Post (July 27, 2019, 11:45 PM), https://www.denverpost.com/2019/07/27/supermax-el-chapo-escape-mentally-ill/.
[3] See Over 30 Killed in Mexico Cartel Stronghold as Violence Rages After Sinaloa Leaders Detained in U.S., CBS News (Sept. 16, 2024), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-killings-cartel-stronghold-sinaloa-leaders-detained-us/.
[4] See The Sinaloa Cartel: An Intel Analyst’s Guide for Travelers, Glob. Guardian (Aug. 5, 2024), https://www.globalguardian.com/global-digest/sinaloa-cartel.
[5] Id.
[6] See June S. Beittel, Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations, Cong. Rsch. Serv., 15 (June 7, 2022), https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/R41576.pdf#page=16.
[7] See World Bank Group, GDP (2024), https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.
[8] See CBS News supra note 3; see also Almudena Barragán, Cartel War in Sinaloa Spreads Fear to Other States in Mexico: ‘You See Fewer People on the Streets and Businesses Close Early’, El País (Sept. 24, 2024, 6:40 AM), https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-24/cartel-war-in-sinaloa-spreads-fear-to-other-states-in-mexico-you-see-fewer-people-on-the-streets-and-businesses-close-early.html.
[9] Barragán, supra note 8.
[10] See Karol Suárez, Drug Cartels Attack Enemies and Spread Terror with Weaponized Drones in US, Mexico, USA Today (June 2, 2021, 1:09 PM), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/06/02/mexican-drug-lords-use-drones-spread-terror/7506312002/; see also Lizbeth Diaz & Dave Graham, Mexico Captures Son of ‘El Chapo’ Sparking Wave of Violence, Reuters (Jan. 6, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-culiacan-suffers-night-violence-with-gunfire-blockades-2023-01-05/.
[11] US Not Responsible For Violence in Mexico’s Sinaloa State, Ambassador Says, Reuters (Sept. 21, 2024, 4:29 PM), https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-not-responsible-violence-mexicos-sinaloa-state-ambassador-says-2024-09-21/.