TIJUANA, Mexico Moses Zazueta Ramirez was at home last Friday when he started getting messages from his mom and seeing the chaos unfold on social media. If you are wondering about who controls the Sinaloa and Tijuana Cartels at the end of Narcos: Mexico season 3, we got you covered. hide caption. [42] Once that is served, he will be sent back to Mexico to finish another 22 years for a conviction there.[43]. When the war begins, it predictably affects both sides. Following the defection of El Mayo's head of operations in Tijuana and the reintegration of its Cabo San Lucas branch it is evident that the Arellano Flix Organization has retaken control of its Tijuana hotbed from outside influences as well as other important hubs in Baja California leaving Mexicali and Rosarito as the last known Sinaloa Cartel outposts in Baja California though how long they will remain under Sinaloan control is debatable with the rapid defection of Sinaloa Cartel operators in traditionally Arellano Flix territories. Tal alianza se forj a la sombra de los muros de la crcel de El Altiplano, prisin de mxima seguridad en la que coincidieron Benjamn Arellano Flix y Osiel . Tijuana Cartel - za siedzib tej organizacji uznaje si miasto na granicy ze Stanami Zjednoczonymi, Tijuan, znajdujc si w pnocno-wschodnim stanie Baja California. The Tijuana cartel was further weakened in August 2006 when its chief, Javier Arellano Flix, was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard on a boat off the coast of Baja California. They set up their command center outside Tijuana. We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. [16] According to Mexican and U.S. authorities, most of Tijuana is under the dominance of the Sinaloa cartel, while Luis Fernando Snchez Arellano of the Tijuana cartel remains the "head of that puppet empire". But the CSRL has been severely weakened by repeated government assaults, and the CJNG has managed to seize control of criminal economies in these three states, although not without spilling blood. As a result of these efforts, the Tijuana cartel is unable to project much power outside of its base in Tijuana. Now, the Old School Zetas have a presence in only certain municipalities such as Coatzacoalcos andMinatitln, but Veracruz's strategic points are held by the CJNG. Authorities hope the arrests prove they are in control and that they make people feel safe. But along the border with the United States, the group has been involved in a series of violent clashes for control of border crossings. "The Zetas have been decimated.". He would spend the years 1993 to 2001 in maximum-security prisons. The Sinaloa cartel has a presence in 17 Mexican states. According to Balderas, pockets of resistance to the CJNG still remain in certain municipalities of Guanajuato, such as Villagrn, but these are not believed to be highly strategic for organized crime groups. Updated: Apr 8, 2020 / 05:31 PM CDT. Tirado then distracted the two men by calling out Ramon's name, and as Ramon and Alamba turned around, two gunmen approached them from behind and shot them several times with handguns. Ruiz was wanted in connection with several murders including a double-homicide last July where the victims were . [20][21], The Tijuana Cartel has infiltrated the Mexican law enforcement and judicial systems and is directly involved in street-level trafficking within the United States. Aun as, los sinaloenses parecen gustar de las disputas, en los aos siguientes el Crtel del golfo, Los Zetas y el Crtel de Tijuana se convertiran en sus enemigos. Unfortunately, 60,000 people have died since President Calder_n (PAN) declared war on drug traffickers in 2006. Its members use social media and public spectacles of violence to terrorize communities into submission. Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) - Split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010, it is "one of the most powerful and fastest growing in Mexico and the United States," according to the DEA. That fight for Tijuana resulted in some of the deadliest years in the citys history. ", "So nah, I don't think I'm really secure. "Let me put it as an example where I live," said Ramirez, the restaurant worker. But in 2019, the CJNG began a series of bloody assaults against the Cartel del Abuelo, with CJNG bossNemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aliasEl Mencho, even reportedly issuing a personal statement threateningFaras lvarez. The Cartel del Abuelo operates from the municipality of Tepalcatepec, in western Michoacn. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garca, the man many believe to have the most control over the Sinaloa cartel, has spent five decades in the drug trade.While El Chapo is widely described as the cartel's leader, that notion obscures the fact that Sinaloa operates more like a federation with multiple leaders who form something analogous to a board of directors. "The most recent outbreaks of violence have been the execution of the last soldiers [of the CSRL]," Balderas said. But to date, it still appears to have less influence there than rivals such as Los Salazar, a powerful cell of the Sinaloa Cartel, andLa Lnea, an increasingly powerful faction of theJurez Cartel. Tijuana residents take part in a peaceful rally outside a military base during a visit by Mexico's president. The unfortunate shooting was part of the battle between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tijuana Cartel. In 2018 he was part of a team of reporters who shared a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism. El semanario Zeta de Tijuana, ya reportaba disputas entre los bandos de "El Mayo" y "Los Chapitos", presuntamente provocadas por el Crtel Jalisco Nueva Generacin (CJNG). Grupa pocztkowo bya potna, obecnie mocno osabiona przez ataki si rzdowych i konkurencyjnych karteli. The power of the CJNG in Jalisco also extends to certain municipalities in neighboring states likeZacatecasandAguascalientes, as well as the coasts ofNayarit, ColimaandMichoacn. In the 1990s they formed an alliance with the Cali Cartel and Norte del Valle Cartel for the cocaine business.[48]. But, for those who study the cartels, the actions were part of an all-too-familiar pattern. It's not for lack of trying. The Arellano-Felix family control lasted until the Sinaloa Cartel challenged them in the mid-to-late 2000s. [38][39] It was later reduced to .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}23+12 years in 2015 and he will be released soon. [13] Nonetheless, most of the victims in Tijuana were white-collar entrepreneurs, and the kidnappings were bringing "too much heat on organized crime" and disrupting the criminal enterprises and interests of the cartel. Yet outside, hundreds of Tijuana residents gathered, encouraged to come by Carlos Atilano Pea a local politician from an opposing political party who is using the moment to spread a very different message. Currently, the Sinaloa and Los Zetas Cartels are in a war, forcing other cartels to take sides and new alliances are forming. However, after the cartel was involved in the 1985 torture and murder of a U.S. drug . Here, InSight Crime zeroes in on the main regions in which CJNG operates and the resistance they face: In the Golden Triangle -- a crucial drug-producing region composed of the states of Sinaloa and Durango, as well as large parts of Chihuahua -- the Sinaloa Cartel continues to be the major criminal player. In the city of Tijuana, in the Pacific state of Baja California, the CJNG and Sinaloa Cartel are the main providers of synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl. And in states surrounding the capital, the CJNG is running into the results ofcriminal fragmentation. The Arellano-Felix Organization, also known as "The Tijuana Cartel," located in Tijuana, Mexico attested great influence and impact on the United States in its prime era of operation. Mexico's Atlantic Coast was traditionally contested between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas. Another key crossing is Ciudad Jurez in Chihuahua, infamous for once being the most violent city in the world. The San Diego-Tijuana border region was jolted just over a week ago, when cartel members launched a campaign of terror on the streets of Tijuana, with vehicles being set ablaze and gunmen. Ensenada, and Tijuana, Mexico to transport cocaine from Sinaloa to the southern border of California and into the United States. As a result, the Tijuana Cartel reversed their branding back to Cartel Arellano Flix and arranged the assassination of Cabo 33 the Jalisco Cartel's head of operations in Baja California, after effectively removing the Jalisco Cartel's influence in Baja California the Tijuana Cartel has further engaged the Sinaloa Cartel for control of Tijuana plaza and its surrounding areas. Edgar Prez Villa, who uses the alias Len . But again, the CJNG does not have much influence there. Borja Vilalta-Castellanos, 36 . Ramn Arellano Flix ordered a hit which resulted in the mass murder of 18 people in Ensenada, Baja California, on September 17, 1998. With Netos help, he learns how to use his inherent talents better. Thats exactly the kind of public show of force that Tijuana experienced August 12. Its leaders prefer to work behind the scenes. September 8, 2021 2794 The internal differences of the Sinaloa Cartel, between El Mayo Zambada and the sons of Chapo Guzmn, exploded in a border town of Baja California and Sonora. Currently, the majority of Mexico's smuggling routes are controlled by three key cartels: Gulf, Sinaloa and Tijuanathough Tijuana is the least powerful. [41] He later pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to launder money, and was sentenced to 25 years in jail on April 2, 2012. ", She also downplayed the severity of last week's attack, saying burning a dozen cars in a city of two million people "statistically does not make it an act of terrorism.". Although one cartel was weakened, simple economics demonstrate how the illicit drug market and organized crime continues to prosper despite cartels coming and going. But these criminal economies are already bitterly contested by Los Rojos, dissidents from theBeltrn Leyva Organization, splinter groups from La Familia Michoacana and criminal gangs from Mexico City. hide caption. Chihuahua City, where the old Juarez cartel now known as La Linea is trying to expel Sinaloa cartel proxy Gente Nueva, had a higher murder rate with 42.87. Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo, the founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, was arrested in 1989. [13], The relative peace in the city of Tijuana in 20102012 has raised speculations of a possible agreement between the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel to maintain peace in the area. The drug trafficker, in his flight from Tijuana, was protected in Sinaloa by Damaso Lopez, alias "El Licenciado," one of the Sinaloa Cartel leaders closest to El Chapo. Los Palillos ("The Toothpicks") was a group operating within Tijuana Cartel, who worked as the armed wing of the Tijuana Cartel in the United States, for the control of the criminal activities in California and Nevada. Synthetics had reshaped the geography of drug demand. In the days since the attacks, military reinforcements have been sent into Tijuana to bolster security. A drug cartel had hijacked and burned. "It has happened a lot, some of their leaders have had these pacts. [49] The infamous drug cartel led by the Arellano-Felix family spent years transporting, importing, and distributing cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin into the United States. The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL) has arguably been the CJNG's most notable rival in the last two years, despite being confined to a limited area in central Mexico. [31] Observers argued that Rocha's arrest put the Tijuana Cartel "on the ropes",[32] though some differed on whether or not the arrest put "the final nail in the coffin" for the Tijuana Cartel. The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: Crtel de Tijuana) or Arellano-Flix-Cartel (Spanish: Crtel Arellano Flix, CAF) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. She didn't take the money, though, so clearly she wants revenge. "A large part of Veracruz is now controlled by the CJNG," Balderas said. Chris Arturo Pichardo contributed to this report. However, the two brothers believed that he was an amateur and was not worthy of working with them, and they declined his offer. Step outside tonight and there would be trouble, was the story doing the rounds. The CJNG has a presence inCiudad Jurez, supposedly bolstered by an alliance with the NewJurez Cartel (Nuevo Cartel de Jurez). Toya Sarno Jordan for NPR There cannot be one single dominant criminal actor in a country as politically, economically and criminally diverse as Mexico. This act led to war between the two families. The discovery of two severed heads in Mexico City has raised concerns that the capital may no longer be immune, Forensic examiners recovering bodies from mass graves in remote terrain has become commonplace during Mexicos drug war, but criminal groups, Poverty and lack of opportunity are supplying Mexico's drug trafficking organizations with waves of fresh recruits. Chapo has always been smart and innovative. SAN DIEGO - Oscar Rodriguez-Guevara of Tijuana, Mexico was sentenced today to 162 months in prison for smuggling multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico and then laundering the illicit proceeds, all for the Sinaloa Cartel. With the imminent release of El Ingeniero and the current consolidations with in Baja California as well as an alliance with Rafa Caro Quintero and the Sonora plaza its speculated the Tijuana Cartel may again rise and surpass both the Gulf and Juarez Cartel's who along with the Sinaloa Cartel are suffering greatly from internal strife. After Archbishop Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo is killed in a shootout between the two cartels, the Mexican and US governments form a joint task force to fight the cartels. If there was a concern, the cartel pivoted and used the. In terms of what does this mean, this means that the state increasingly looks weaker in relation to criminal groups, said Cecilia Farfan-Mendez, co-founder of the Mexico Violence Resource Project. The other faction, led by Luis Fernando Snchez Arellano (a.k.a. Action by the Mexican Authority alone could not maintain the needed control. The sun sets in Tijuana, Baja California, on the border with San Diego. U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez also imposed a $50,000 fine. After Benjamn barely escapes from being captured by the soldiers, he goes into hiding, leaving Enedina in charge of day-to-day operations. Its front line runs through Tijuana, the gateway to San Diego and the. In 1989, the ambitious Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin Guzman Loera approached the brothers Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Felix, the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel, and offered to work with them in the drug trade. hide caption. The squad discovered that Benjamin Arellano Felix was hiding at a safehouse in Puebla with his henchman Charalito, and Conrado Higuera Sol - now operational director of the federal police - oversaw the operation that led to Arellano Felix's capture. The rumor about the cartel imposing a curfew on Tijuana wasn't true, but the 23-year-old decided to skip his work at a local restaurant that weekend anyway and stay at home with his girlfriend. But they dont have direct access to the US border and are forced to pay hefty taxes to the Arellano family to move their cargo through Tijuana. Six people have been arrested in the week since, according to the president. Tijuana hasn't seen this type of violence in its streets since the mid-2000s, when the federal government took a hardline approach on the cartels. 14059. . Could more local solutions work. Thats when the U.S. pressured Mexican leaders to go after them. With the participation of Nueva Generacin, the battle for control of Tijuana's neighborhood drug trade and lucrative smuggling routes to the United States has entered a new phase, one that has. Tijuana has seen a methamphetamine-fuelled murder epidemic which produced a record 2,518 murders in 2018 and looks set to cause even more this year. Headlines and US indictments have confidently proclaimed the Jalisco Cartel to be Mexico's dominant criminal group. The Sinaloa Cartel's forces heavily employed Narco Tanks and .50 caliber Barrett rifles, among other weapons during fighting in 2019 in Culiacn after a previous attempt to detain Ovidio, along. I cannot allow citizens to pay the consequences of these criminal acts we need them to trust our police.". TheSinaloa-Tijuana war was a bloody gang war fought between the rival Sinaloa and Tijuana Mexican drug cartels in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Jalisco, Guerrero, Michoacan, and Oaxaca from 1989 to 1993 and from 2001 to 2002. Members of the National Guard stand guard outside a military base in Tijuana. Jesus Alcazar BADIRAGUATO, Mexico Neat, freshly painted buildings and a renovated church line the central square. ", Carlos Atilano Pea organized the "united for security" rally outside a military base where Mexico's President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador gave his daily press briefing during his visit to Tijuana. According toscar Balderas, a Mexican journalist and expert in organized crime, Tamaulipas is divided between the Northeast Cartel (Cartel del Noreste)and the New Blood Zetas (Zetas Sangre Nueva), as well as the remnants of the Gulf Cartel. But along the border with the United States, the group has been involved in a series of violent clashes for control of border crossings. hide caption. Large segments of Mexico's people, territory, and economy are falling under the rule of Mexican criminal groups even in areas where violence has not flared up or has declined, with the declines . Federal officials in Mexico are deploying hundreds of troops to the border city of Tijuana following a wave of violent attacks. While the Sinaloa cartel maintains a heavy presence in Sinaloa state, it has also ousted its rivals in the lucrative smuggling corridors of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. SEE ALSO: Mexico's Role in the Deadly Rise of Fentanyl. The shootout occurred in the context of a violent drug war between the Tijuana and Sinaloa cartels, with Guzman seeking revenge for the murder of the wife and two young daughters of his right-hand man Hector Luis Palma Salazar at the hands of Tijuana hitmen. El Ingeniero), focused primarily on drug trafficking. Morelos and the State of Mexico offer plenty of criminal economies, including human trafficking, kidnapping, microtrafficking and drug trafficking, especially heroin. The Tijuana cartel is present in at least 15 Mexican states, with important areas of operation in Tijuana, Mexicali, Tecate, and Ensenada in Baja California, in parts of Sinaloa,[35] and in Zacatecas. According to some reports,Faras lvarez even once allied himself with the CJNG as the large cartel moved into Michoacn. Another thing that happened in the aftermath of these events is that the government is saying that their strategy is working, she said. The Sinaloa cartel had the supply. [46][47], The Tijuana Cartel is believed to have ties with FARC, a Colombia guerrilla group that also has ties with other Mexican drug cartels. In Juarez, a Honduran migrant named Victor as well as Chihuahua Deputy Attorney General Jorge Nava questioned the survey's conclusions. . The organization has a reputation for extreme violence. In order to wrest control of the city from the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG allied itself with the weakened Tijuana Cartel, which rebranded itself as the Tijuana Cartel New Generation (Cartel de Tijuana Nueva Generacin). Al Crtel de Sinaloa le vendran los mejores aos en su actividad delictiva, mientras el Crtel de Tijuana iba en picada. This criminal organization is responsible for the transportation, importation, and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, as well as large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine.[22].