105-526: Ovidio Guzmán López (born 29 March 1990) is a Mexican former drug lord and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel , a criminal group based in the state of Sinaloa . He is the son of another drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán , once considered Mexico's most-wanted drug lord and the world's most-wanted criminal. Guzmán López was suspected of being a leader within a Sinaloa Cartel faction often referred to as Los Chapitos, Los Menores, and/or Los Juniors. He
210-480: A city Guzmán has never set foot in. He is the only individual to receive the title since Al Capone. The focal point for Sinaloa in Chicago is the city's "Little Village" neighborhood. From this strategic point, the cartel distributes their product at the wholesale level to dozens of local street gangs, as much as 2 metric tons a month, in a city with over 117,000 documented gang members. The Gangster Disciples are one of
315-542: A commercial value on their lost land at $ 2.8 billion pesos ($ 294 million U.S. dollars). In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolve the issue, also failed. As shown image 2 Ejido Tampico comparison between 2000 and 2006, the ejidatarios then proceeded to commercially develop the 79 hectares (200 acres) area at the Tijuana airport by leasing buildings and parcels to trucking and storage companies. As shown by image 3 Drug Trafficking Tunnel , in 2006
420-455: A conspiracy to traffic cocaine , methamphetamine and marijuana since 2008. The sealed indictment was filed 2 April 2018. On 12 December 2018, the indictment was unsealed for the limited purpose of disclosure in an extradition proceeding pursuant to the Jencks Act . Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the full unsealing of the indictment on 13 February 2019. On 17 October 2019, members of
525-705: A criminologist at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond . In 2010, Kraska estimated 60,000–70,000 no-knock or quick-knock raids were conducted by local police annually, the majority of which were looking for marijuana. In Utah, no-knock warrants made up about 40% of warrants served by SWAT teams in 2014 and 2015, usually for drugs and usually done at night. In Maryland, 90% of SWAT deployments were to serve search warrants, with two-thirds through forced entry. From 2010 through 2016, at least 81 civilians and 13 officers died during SWAT raids, including 31 civilians and eight officers during execution of no-knock warrants. Half of
630-403: A dawn raid on his home which saw his wife and two children (11 and 2) detained , by jumping out of a first floor window as he feared he would be killed if he was returned to Algeria . After public outcry, his wife and children, both of whom require ongoing medical treatment, were released. On 2 October 2006, Caritas Sony and her two children Heaven (2) and Glad (4 months) were dawn raided with
735-717: A formal chain of command ." When Héctor Luis Palma Salazar was arrested on 23 June 1995, by the Mexican Army, his partner Joaquín Guzmán Loera took leadership of the cartel. Guzmán was captured in Guatemala on 9 June 1993, and extradited to Mexico, where he was jailed in a maximum security prison, but on 19 January 2001, Guzmán escaped and resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán has two close associates, Ismael Zambada García and Ignacio Coronel Villareal . Guzman and Zambada became Mexico's top drug kingpins in 2003, after
840-509: A former high-ranking Tijuana member called Eduardo Teodoro Garcia Simental, alias "El Teo" or "Tres Letras" allying with the Federation. By 2005, the Beltrán-Leyva brothers , who were formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, had come to dominate drug trafficking across the border with Arizona. By 2006, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated all competition across the 528 km (328 mi) of
945-669: A major disadvantage since they were forced to move much of their drug product through the Tijuana corridor, which often put them directly into conflict with the Arellanos. This eventually led to Ramón Arellano Félix killing two of Guzmán's associates thus leading to a full-fledged war between the two organizations. It was around this period in the early 1990s when Guzmán brought in freelance trafficker Ismael Zambada García (a.k.a. El Mayo ) particularly due to his exceptional ability to work with and coordinate with other traffickers. Throughout much of
1050-528: A major distribution network operated by the Flores crew led by twin brothers Margarito and Pedro Flores that operated there. The drug operation allegedly brought 3,000 to 4,000 pounds (1,400 to 1,800 kg) of cocaine every month to Chicago from Mexico and shipped millions of dollars south of the border. The shipments were mostly bought from the Sinaloa Cartel and at times from the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, and it
1155-524: A maximum security facility in 14 years. On 8 January 2016, Guzman was arrested again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa. The Sinaloa Cartel used to be known as La Alianza de Sangre ("Blood Alliance"). The Sinaloa Cartel is "a confederation of criminal organizations based on regional culture, and deep, shared blood ties that have been generated during decades of endogenous practice." The Cipher Brief identified
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#17330852204381260-746: A metal battering ram. They were taken to Dungavel prior to intended deportation to the Democratic Republic of Congo , where Caritas had been raped and tortured before fleeing to the UK. After a strong campaign, Caritas and her family were eventually released. On 3 October 2006, the Uzun family managed to avoid being detained during a dawn raid, as they were absent at the time. They had gone to demonstrate solidarity with Caritas Sony. On 4 October 2006, Cem and Betsy Coban together with their two children, aged 14 and 3, were dawn raided. Cem Cobain threatened to jump from
1365-681: A police raid as "a sudden appearance by officers for the purpose of arresting suspected law violators and seizing contraband and the means and instruments used in the commission of a crime." Dawn raids were a common event in Auckland , New Zealand, during a crackdown on illegal overstayers from the Pacific Islands from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The raids were first introduced in 1973 by Norman Kirk 's Labour government and were continued by Robert Muldoon 's National government . These operations involved special police squads conducting raids on
1470-408: A subordinate of Guzmán López. A parallel press announcement by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the sanctions as "part of a whole-of-government effort to disrupt and dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate the illicit supply of fentanyl and other narcotics". On the same day as these announcements, the docket of the U.S. criminal case against Guzmán López
1575-575: A war against the Tijuana Cartel (Arellano-Félix Organization) over the Tijuana smuggling route to the border city of San Diego, California. The rivalry between the two cartels dates back to the Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo setup of Palma's family. Félix Gallardo, following his imprisonment, bestowed the Guadalajara Cartel to his nephews in the Tijuana Cartel. On 8 November 1992, Palma struck out against
1680-497: A white Mercury Grand Marquis town car. Evidence that runs counter to a mistake theory is that Posadas did not look anything like Guzmán, he was wearing a long black cassock and a large pectoral cross , and he was gunned down from only two feet away. As of 2014, it is believed that the Tijuana Cartel, or at least a sizable majority of it, has been either absorbed or forced to ally with the Sinaloa Federation, in part due to
1785-437: Is a type of police raid performed under a no-knock warrant . No-knock warrants are controversial for various reasons, and have seen increased usage from the 1960s on. There have been many cases where armed homeowners, believing that they are being invaded, have shot at officers, resulting in deaths on both sides. The number of no-knock raids has increased from 3,000 in 1981 to more than 50,000 in 2005, according to Peter Kraska,
1890-550: Is assumed that both cartels threatened the Flores crew with violence if they bought from other rival drug organizations. On 11 May 2010, Alfonso Gutiérrez Loera, cousin of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, and 5 other drug traffickers were arrested after a shootout with Federal Police officers in Culiacan , Sinaloa. Along with the captured suspects, 16 assault rifles, 3 grenades, 102 magazines and 3,543 rounds of ammunition were seized. The Mexican Secretary of National Defense ( Sedena ) reported
1995-488: Is believed the Sinaloa Cartel moved 200 men into the region to battle the Gulf Cartel for control. The Nuevo Laredo region is an important drug trafficking corridor into Laredo, Texas , where as much as 40% of all Mexican exports pass through into the U.S. Following the 2004 assassination of journalist Roberto Javier Mora García from El Mañana newspaper, much of the local media has been cautious about their reporting of
2100-668: Is widely reported that Guzmán López took on a prominent role of the Sinaloa Cartel after his father's arrest. In 2019, the Associated Press reported that he leads the cartel along with his brothers Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada . In July 2017, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia empaneled a grand jury that formally indicted both Ovidio Guzmán López and his brother Joaquín Guzmán López on charges of participating in
2205-526: The Agua Prieta plaza. The Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan areas are major trans-shipment and distribution points for the cartel in the US. To coordinate operations in the southeast US, Atlanta has emerged as a major distribution center and accounting hub and the presence of the Sinaloa Cartel there has brought ruthless violence to that area. Chicago continues to be a major Sinaloa distribution point for
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#17330852204382310-780: The Anglo-Caribbean region ( Belize , Guyana ), Canada ( British Columbia , Eastern Canada ) and the United States (primarily the Southwest , Southern and parts of the Mid-Atlantic ). In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel dug its first drug tunnel between a house in Agua Prieta, Sonora to a warehouse located in Douglas, Arizona . The 300 feet (91 m) tunnel was discovered in May 1990. Following
2415-937: The Culiacán municipality is reportedly controlled by Mayo. The municipalities of Cosala and Mazatlán are said to have more than one group controlling the territory as well as some of the northern regions of the state, which are purportedly partially controlled by the Beltrán-Leyva Organization . Despite its measured and challenged presence in Mexico however, the Federation is also well known for its large and widespread international presence and its many transnational criminal operations and partners. Locations outside Mexico include Latin America ( Guatemala , El Salvador , Honduras , Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Panamá , Colombia , Bolivia , Peru , Ecuador , Venezuela , Brazil , Argentina ),
2520-580: The Federation , the Blood Alliance , or the Pacific Cartel , is a large, transnational organized crime syndicate based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa , Mexico that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering . The cartel's history is marked by evolution from a small crime syndicate to one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world. Founded in
2625-535: The Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California , Durango , Sonora , and Chihuahua . and presence in other regions in Latin America, as well as cities across the U.S. The United States Intelligence Community considers the cartel to be the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world, perhaps more influential than Pablo Escobar 's Medellín Cartel of Colombia during its prime. According to
2730-477: The National Drug Intelligence Center and other sources within the U.S. the Sinaloa Cartel is primarily involved in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl , cannabis and MDMA . As of 2024, the cartel remains Mexico's most dominant drug cartel. After the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and his son Ovidio Guzmán López in 2016 and 2023 respectively, the cartel
2835-472: The National Guard briefly arrested Ovidio Guzmán López in Culiacán , Sinaloa, setting off several gun battles in the city. Heavily armed cartel gunmen (numbering over 600) threatened mass civilian deaths, including an attack to the apartment complex housing the relatives of the local military personnel. Hours later, Ovidio Guzmán was freed, with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador saying he supported
2940-910: The Secretariat of National Defense put the forces used in the operation at 3,586 soldiers. The Secretariat also claimed that in the course of the operation "four .50 caliber Barrett rifles, six 50 caliber machine guns, 26 long arms, 2 handguns, magazines, cartridges, various tactical equipment and 13 operational vehicles" were seized. Following Guzmán López's capture, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control applied sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 14059 against individuals and corporations of Sinaloa Cartel's networks supplying drug precursors for illicit manufacture of methamphetamine and fentanyl in so-called super-laboratories. These are defined by OFAC as "large-scale drug laboratories that produce 10 or more pounds of an illicit drug per production cycle". The targets included Luis Gerardo Flores Madrid, said to be
3045-474: The U.S. Attorney General , the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 short tons (180 t) of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008. However, during the second wave of America's opioid epidemic in the mid-2010s, which was driven largely by heroin; the prevalence and trafficking of fentanyl began to increase exponentially leading to
3150-433: The 1990s, Ismael Zambada also helped grow and expand the cartel while Guzmán and Palma were incarcerated. Before getting directly involved with the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael Zambada García was a farmer, freelancer and small-time drug trafficker who would sell mere kilograms of marijuana and heroin before eventually becoming acquainted with Mexico's more elite trafficking circles. By the mid-1990s, according to one court opinion,
3255-455: The Arizona border. The Milenio (Michoacán) , Jalisco (Guadalajara), Sonora (Sonora) , and Colima cartels were now branches of the Sinaloa Cartel. At this time the organization was laundering money at global scale, mainly through British bank HSBC . In January 2008 the cartel allegedly split into a number of warring factions, which caused a major uptick in drug violence in Mexico. Murders by
Ovidio Guzmán López - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-819: The Army, National Guard, Secretariat of National Defense and Secretariat of the Navy had captured him and also managed to successfully transport him to Mexico City, where he was then taken to offices of the Attorney General's organized crime special prosecutor. The Air Force then flew Guzmán López by helicopter to the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 ("Altiplano"), a maximum security federal prison in Almoloya de Juárez , later that afternoon. An additional 17 suspected cartel members were also taken into custody in
3465-773: The Avilés organization. Pedro Avilés would eventually die in a shootout with federal police in September 1978 in Sinaloa . Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, who co-founded the Guadalajara Cartel between 1978 and 1980, from then on; controlled much of Mexico's drug-trafficking corridors along the United States border throughout the 1980s, only to be rivaled by the Gulf Cartel which controlled some of eastern Mexico's drug trade. Félix Gallardo divided up his "Federation" by 1987, just two years after
3570-629: The CDS's international success as largely being due to a horizontal system of organization as opposed to the top-down hierarchy employed by many of its rivals. Having decentralized in order to expand abroad, as well as to allow itself to "[survive] brutal attacks by rival cartels and the capture of its most prominent leader, Chapo Guzman," the cartel's use of this strategy was compared to the semi-autonomous networks of subsidies and local branches used by many legitimate franchises; "Authority for decision-making flows across various components rather than moving downward in
3675-771: The Dawn Raids at the Auckland Town Hall on 26 June 2021. In January 2007 Ruth Turner was arrested in a dawn raid as part of the investigation into the Cash for Peerages affair. Senior Labour politicians criticised the move; but their concern about this has been contrasted by their lack of concern at other dawn raids. In September 2005, Manuelo Bravo killed himself following a dawn raid. He and his son (13) were detained in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre where he had been threatened with deportation to Angola , where he feared his life
3780-725: The Federal Police of Mexico killed Gonzalo "El Macho Prieto" Inzunza in a gun battle in Puerto Penasco, Sonora. Inzunza was believed to be one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's chief cartel leaders. Also in December 2013, three suspected members of the cartel were arrested in Lipa in Batangas province in the Philippines with 84 kg (185 lb) of methamphetamine. In February 2014, "El Chapo" Guzmán
3885-585: The Federal Social Readaption Center No. 1, a maximum-security prison in the State of Mexico, through a tunnel in his prison cell. Guzmán resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel, but on 8 January 2016, Guzmán was captured again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzmán's home state of Sinaloa. With the arrest of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Ismael Zambada has assumed most of the leadership of
3990-544: The Mexican government. The cartel diversified its drug portfolio to include cocaine , methamphetamine , and heroin , further solidifying its position as a dominant force in the drug trade. Despite numerous arrests and seizures by law enforcement, the cartel has continued to operate, often employing sophisticated smuggling techniques, including tunnels under the US-Mexico border. It has operations in many world regions but primarily in
4095-542: The Midwest, taking advantage of a strong local demand market and convergence of several major interstate systems that offer distribution throughout the US. For a long time, the cartel also benefited from the relative ease of cash transactions and money laundering through banks with presence both in the US and Mexico like HSBC. In 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission named Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmán "Public Enemy No. 1" of
4200-775: The Pacific community including the Polynesian Panthers , the Labour Party , and Pacific governments, the raids were abandoned by the National Government. In April 2021, members of the Pasifika community called for an official apology, describing the dawn raids as "government‑sanctioned racism". In mid-June 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that the New Zealand Government would formally apologise for
4305-594: The Prosecutor's Office. We have also found irregularities." On 5 January 2023, the authorities arrested Guzmán López in the Jesús María district of Culiacán . The arrest was credited to a joint intelligence effort between Mexico and the US military named Operation Mongoose Azteca . US Intelligence spent months intercepting communications between members of the Cartel. Mexico authorities were able to use that information to locate
Ovidio Guzmán López - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-468: The Sinaloa Cartel had been willing to negotiate potential leadership for the Caro Quintero brothers due to their histories as bosses in the predecessor organization. it was believed that while Guzmán's relatives and friends scrambled for marginal leadership positions in the organization, the real top leader was still Ismael Zambada whom allegedly mediated power between them and allowed them an umbrella of
4515-419: The Sinaloa Cartel. On 24 June 2020, Zambada was revealed to be "sick with diabetes ", which reportedly gave El Chapo's sons more influence over the Sinaloa Cartel. This also ended an attempt to recruit former high-ranking Mexican drug lords Rafael and Miguel Caro Quintero as members of the Sinaloa Cartel due to the refusal of El Chapo's sons to grant them leadership status. Under Zambada's leadership,
4620-646: The Sinaloa organization was believed to be the size of the Medellín Cartel during its prime. Zambada also helped Amado Carrillo Fuentes expand the Juárez Cartel in the state of Chihuahua and helped incorporate some of the remnants of the Juárez Cartel into the Sinaloa Cartel after Carrillo's death in 1997. The Sinaloa Cartel was therefore believed to be linked to the Juárez Cartel in a strategic alliance following
4725-619: The Tijuana Cartel at a disco club in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco , where eight Tijuana Cartel members were killed in the shootout, the Arellano-Félix brothers successfully escaping from the location with the assistance of David Barron Corona , a member of the Logan Heights Gang . In retaliation, the Tijuana Cartel attempted to set up Guzmán at Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993. In the shootout that followed, six civilians were killed by
4830-415: The Tijuana airport through the former Ejido Tampico. The "super tunnels" were equipped with power, ventilation and rail tracks to allow the efficient movement of large loads of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. As seen on image 1 Drug tunnel corridors the close proximity of the former Ejido Tampico to the Tijuana airport and U.S.-Mexico border made it an ideal staging area for smuggling operations into
4935-676: The USA. On the contrary, based on seizure reports, the Sinaloa Cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine. The reports also demonstrated the cartels possess the ability to establish operations in previously unknown areas, such as Central America and South America, even as far south as Peru, Paraguay and Argentina. It also appears to be most active in diversifying its export markets; rather than relying solely on U.S. drug consumption, it has made an effort to supply distributors of drugs in Latin American and European countries. On 19 December 2013,
5040-437: The United States for the Sinaloa Cartel. To accomplish this task he used every means available: Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, narco submarines , container ships, go-fast boats , fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor-trailers and automobiles. He was arrested by the Mexican Army on 18 March 2009, and extradited on 18 February 2010, to Chicago to face federal charges. He filed a guilty plea agreement and agreed to cooperate with
5145-602: The United States to face drug trafficking charges. U.S Attorney General Merrick Garland described the extradition as "the most recent step in the Justice Department's effort to attack every aspect of the cartel's operations". On 23 July 2024, two days before the arrests of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Ovidio's brother Joaquín Guzmán López , the Bureau of Prisons inmate records showed his status as released. The U.S. Department of Justice said that he remains in custody. During
5250-473: The United States, Latin America, and as far as the Philippines. Despite the arrest of key leaders, the cartel remains a significant player in international drug trafficking, driven by demand for narcotics in the US and around the world. Pedro Avilés Pérez was a pioneer drug lord in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in the late 1960s. He is considered to be, along with Vicenete Carrillo Leyva the first generation of major Mexican drug smugglers of marijuana who marked
5355-415: The United States. The Mexican government's conflict with the former Ejido Tampico dated back to 1970, when they expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) of the Ejido Tampico to build a new runway and passenger terminal at the Tijuana airport and agreed to pay the displaced ejidatarios (the communal farmers) $ 1.4 million pesos ($ 112,000 U.S. dollars in 1970). When the Mexican government failed to indemnify
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#17330852204385460-423: The United States. Co-founder and leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López , one of the sons of El Chapo , were arrested by US authorities in El Paso, Texas on July 25, 2024. Of illicit substances , the cartel's operations seem to mostly favor the trade of cocaine and opioids , particularly in a distribution hub like Chicago , where demand for methamphetamine is relatively low. According to
5565-416: The United States. Mayo's traditional major distribution hubs were allegedly in Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Denver. El Mayo was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for El Chapo after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001. The Sinaloa Cartel was partially splintered in 2008 when the Beltrán-Leyva brothers broke apart from the cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel has been waging
5670-403: The United States. Since 2013, the cartel has been operating in the Philippines after a raid on a ranch in Lipa , Batangas, according to a statement by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Arthur Cacdac, and have entered the country without notice. President Rodrigo Duterte further confirmed the presence of the Sinaloa Cartel in the Philippines, saying that the cartel uses
5775-520: The affected airports was restored during the morning of 6 January. Looting was reported in parts of Culiacán, and numerous businesses and banks announced temporary closures across the state. Journalists in the area reported multiple carjackings and demands for car keys. Ten soldiers, 19 gang members, and one police officer were killed during the unrest. Among the victims were an infantry colonel and his four escorts, who were ambushed and killed by cartel members in Escuinapa, Sinaloa . A report issued by
5880-473: The aim of using the element of surprise to seize evidence or arrest suspects believed to be likely to hide evidence , resist arrest , endanger the public or officers if approached through other means, or simply be elsewhere at another time. Various tactics are used by law enforcement in raids that often vary based on available equipment, situational factors, laws, and police powers . The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) defines
5985-444: The aircraft and the gunmen escaped. On 31 May 1993, Mexican federal agents searching for the gunmen found a partially completed 1,500 feet (460 m) tunnel adjacent to the Tijuana airport and crossing under the U.S.-Mexico border to a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego . It was discovered as Mexican and San Diego officials were discussing the creation of a cross-border airport between Tijuana and Otay Mesa which would have undermined
6090-414: The arrest of Jesús Alfredo Salazar Ramírez, alias "El Muñeco" or "El Pelos", who was identified as the current lieutenant of the South Pacific Cartel in the state of Sonora. As stated by Sedena, "El Muñeco" worked as an administrator under Joaquín Guzmán Loera, and is believed to be responsible for the death of the activist Nepomuceno Moreno. Jesús Alfredo Salazar Ramírez was arrested on 1 November 2012, in
6195-412: The arrest of their rival Osiel Cárdenas Guillén of the Gulf Cartel . Another close associate, Javier Torres Félix , was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in December 2006. On 29 July 2010, Ignacio Coronel was killed in a shootout with the Mexican military in Zapopan , Jalisco . Guzmán was captured on 22 February 2014, overnight by American and Mexican authorities. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from
6300-415: The arrest, the U.S. Consulate in Hermosillo shared that it had received reports of gunfire, roadblocks, and fires throughout the cities of Culiacán , Los Mochis , and Guasave . The Consulate reiterated the United States Department of State 's highest level of travel advisory cautioning against travel to Sinaloa. Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya called for the public to shelter in place. Unrest led to
6405-497: The balcony of his 20th storey flat rather than be deported to an uncertain future in Turkey , but after 3 hours of negotiations with Strathclyde Police he was eventually led away by immigration officials. Betsy was taken to hospital with complications related to a heart condition. On 19 March 2007, Max and Onoya Waku and their three children, aged 14, 11 and 4, were dawn raided by immigration officers and taken to Dungavel detention centre. They were later released. A no-knock raid
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#17330852204386510-420: The birth of large-scale Mexican drug trafficking. He also pioneered the use of aircraft to smuggle drugs to the United States. Second generation Sinaloan traffickers such as Rafael Caro Quintero , Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo , Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo , Ismael Zambada García and Avilés Pérez' nephew Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán would claim they learned all they knew about 'narcotraficantes' while serving in
6615-474: The capture and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar when the threat from American law enforcement became much more pressing. This division of the organization in the late 1980s led to the cartel essentially being made up of several smaller cartels who controlled their own territories and trafficking corridors with their own bosses. This would make it less likely the whole organization would be brought down all at once. One of these cartels (called plazas at
6720-446: The cartel often involve beheadings or bodies dissolved in vats of alkali and are sometimes filmed and posted on the Internet as a warning to rival gangs. Before his arrest, Vicente Zambada Niebla ("El Vicentillo"), son of Ismael Zambada García ("El Mayo"), played a key role in the Sinaloa Cartel. Vicente Zambada was responsible for coordinating multi-ton cocaine shipments from Central and South American countries, through Mexico, and into
6825-400: The civilians killed were minorities. Of those subject to SWAT search warrants, 42% are black and 12% are Hispanic. Since 2011, at least seven federal lawsuits against officers executing no-knock warrants have been settled for over $ 1 million. Dawn raids are a tactic often used by law enforcement agencies in the United States. High-profile dawn raids include: During the Nazi occupation of
6930-474: The closure of Culiacán International Airport as two planes at the airport—an airliner operated by Aeroméxico and a military aircraft—took gunfire. Shootouts were also reported on the runway. Aeroméxico diverted planes away from the international airports in Los Mochis and Mazatlán as well. Attacks on two trucks on Highway 15 in neighboring Sonora prompted Aeroméxico to also cancel flights from Ciudad Obregón International Airport . Regular service at all
7035-439: The country as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into the United States. The presence of the cartel in the Philippines has worsened the ongoing war between drug lords, drug cartels and the government in that country. On 4 July 2019, Juan Ulises Galván Carmona, alias "El Buda", was killed by two hit men in a convenience store in Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo state along Mexico's Caribbean coast. El Buda served as
7140-411: The decision in order to "prevent more bloodshed". López Obrador later said he ordered the release to prevent the killing of 200 people On 8 May 2020, Santiago Nieto, head of Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), confirmed that the Government of Mexico froze Ovidio Guzmán's assets, stating, "We have frozen the accounts of Ovidio and of 330 people linked to the cartel and have filed a complaint with
7245-454: The discovery by U.S. Customs and Mexican Federal Police, the Sinaloa Cartel began to focus their smuggling operations towards Tijuana and Otay Mesa, San Diego where it acquired a warehouse in 1992. After the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and six others at the Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993, the gunmen boarded a commercial jet. When the jet landed at the Tijuana airport, both police and military units failed to cordon off
7350-399: The dispute and remove the ejidatarios from the privatized Tijuana airport, the Mexican government established a value on the expropriated 320 hectares (790 acres) at $ 1.2 million pesos ($ 125,560 U.S. dollars in 1999) while the ejidatarios of the former Ejido Tampico taking into account the increase in property values from 1970 to 1999 and the privatization of the Tijuana airport established
7455-402: The drug tunneling operations in the area (see History of the Cross Border Xpress ). The tunnel was described by the DEA in San Diego as the "Taj Mahal" of drug tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border and was linked to Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán. It was five times longer than the Agua Prieta-Douglas tunnel and became the first of a series of drug "super tunnels" in Otay Mesa originating in and around
7560-452: The ejidatarios for their lost farmland, they reoccupied a 79 hectares (200 acres) portion of the Tijuana airport and threatened armed conflict. As shown by image 2 Ejido Tampico , from 1970 to 2000, the occupied land at the Tijuana airport remained relatively undeveloped. In 1999, the Tijuana airport was privatized and became part of a 12 airport network known as Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (Pacific Airport Group). In an attempt to resolve
7665-507: The fighting. The cartels have pressured reporters to send messages and wage a media war. The drug war has spread to various regions of Mexico, such as Guerrero , Mexico City, Michoacán and Tamaulipas . On 30 August 2010, Villarreal was captured by Mexican Federal Police. On 25 February 2009, the U.S. government announced the arrest of 750 members of the Sinaloa Cartel across the U.S. in Operation Xcellerator . They also announced
7770-589: The government on 8 November 2018. As of 2013, the Sinaloa Cartel continued to dominate the Sonora-Arizona corridor, which extends for nearly 375 mi (604 km). It relies on eight "plaza" bosses, leaders of a specific geographic region along the corridor, to coordinate, direct, and support the flow of narcotics north into the United States. Key cities along the corridor include the Mexicali plaza, San Luis Rio Colorado plaza, Sonoyta plaza, Nogales plaza, and
7875-490: The hearing on 21 October 2024, it was confirmed that Guzmán and his brother were negotiating a plea deals and would be represented by same attorney. Their next hearing is scheduled for January 7, 2025. Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa , pronounced [ˈkaɾtel ðe sinaˈloa] , CDS , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the Guzmán-Loera Organization ,
7980-499: The hired gunmen from Logan Heights. The dead included Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo. The church hierarchy originally believed Posadas was targeted as revenge for his strong stance against the drug trade. However, Mexican officials believe Posadas just happened to be caught in cross fire. The cardinal arrived at the airport in a white Mercury Grand Marquis town car, known to be popular amongst drug barons. Barron had received intelligence that Guzmán would be arriving in
8085-494: The homes and workplaces of overstayers throughout New Zealand, usually at dawn. Overstayers and their families were often prosecuted and then deported back to their countries. The Dawn raids were particularly controversial, because despite the fact that Pacific Islanders only made up one-third of visa over-stayers, they accounted for 86% of those arrested and prosecuted. The majority of over-stayers were from Great Britain , Australia , and South Africa . Due to opposition from
8190-430: The initial operation. In a press conference, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that there was an extradition request for Guzmán López to face trial in the United States, but Ebrard noted that he was also facing criminal charges in Mexico. The day after his arrest, a federal judge placed Guzmán López under a 60-day preventive detention to allow U.S. authorities to formally petition for his extradition. Following
8295-851: The issue of asylum, moving away from dawn raiding asylum seekers, to detaining families at reporting centres; however, dawn raids have continued. In 2002, Yurdugal Ay and her children were suddenly removed from their home by immigration officials and taken to Dungavel detention centre in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. They were all put together in one room where they lived for a year. In September 2005, Isen and Nexhi Vucaj were dawn raided together with their three teenage children. They were taken to Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre before being deported to Albania . On 8 February 2006, Lutfu and Gultan Akyol and their two children, aged 10 and 6, were dawn raided after home office officials battered down their door. They were taken to Dungavel following
8400-454: The late 1960s by Pedro Avilés Pérez in Sinaloa, the cartel initially focused on smuggling marijuana into the United States (US). Pérez is credited with pioneering the use of aircraft for drug smuggling , laying the groundwork for large-scale trafficking operations. His organization was a training ground for the second generation of Sinaloan traffickers. The Guadalajara Cartel was co-founded by Félix Gallardo between 1978 and 1980, marking
8505-581: The lawyer Rubén Alejandro Cepeda Leos, who was assassinated on 20 December 2011, in the city of Chihuahua , Chihuahua. According to the Sedena he is the assumed assassin of activist Nepomuceno Moreno Núñez, which occurred 28 November 2011. Nepomuceno Moreno was an activist who sought justice for the disappearance of his son and joined the Mexican Indignados Movement , led by the poet Javier Sicilia . José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa (alias "Chino Antrax")
8610-536: The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking activities and shipments from Central and South America. Los Negros have been known to employ gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha to carry out murders and other illegal activities. The group is involved in fighting in the Nuevo Laredo region for control of the drug trafficking corridor. Following the 2003 arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, it
8715-467: The leadership of the organization essentially being split between the Mayo Zambada and Los Chapitos factions of the cartel, much of the state of Sinaloa is also split territorially. Within Sinaloa, the municipalities of El Fuerte, Badiraguato, Mocorito, Angostura, Navolato, Concordia, Rosario, Escuinapa, and half of Culiacán is controlled by Los Chapitos , while San Ignacio, Elota, and the other half of
8820-450: The local gangs most actively working with the cartel. The cartel's attempts to control the Chicago drug market have brought them into direct conflict with other Chicago gangs, including the Black P. Stones , Vice Lords , and Black Disciples , resulting in an increase in violence in the city. The Sinaloa Cartel has operations in the Philippines as a trans-shipment point for drugs smuggled into
8925-417: The movements of Ovidio. According to eyewitness accounts, Guzmán López had a family party the evening before he was arrested. The military executed a pre-dawn raid on Guzmán López's residence that used a helicopter and convoy of ground vehicles and apprehended him within 10 hours of entry. Reports of his arrest were later confirmed by Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval , who stated that personnel from
9030-547: The municipality of Huixquilucan , by military personnel working with the Mexican Attorney General's office ( PGR ). "El Muñeco" is considered to be one of the most important lieutenants of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, evident from his control of the planting, production, and trafficking of drugs in Sonora and in the mountains of Chihuahua , which were sent predominantly to the US. He is linked to various homicides, among them
9135-507: The next phase in the cartel's history. Under Gallardo's leadership, the cartel controlled much of Mexico's drug trafficking corridors along the US border throughout the 1980s. Following Gallardo's arrest in 1989, the cartel splintered into smaller organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Sinaloa Cartel, under the leadership of figures like Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán , expanded its operations significantly, engaging in brutal conflicts with rival cartels and
9240-578: The organization to work under his reign with seemingly, relative autonomy. As of November 2022, the Chapitos and Zambada factions are rumored to have reconciled their recent differences in order to come together to battle the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. At the time of his arrest on 5 January 2023, El Chapo son Ovidio Guzmán was believed to be the leader of the cartel's Chapitos faction. On September 15, 2023, Ovidio would be extradited to
9345-475: The partnership of their rivals, the Gulf Cartel and Tijuana Cartel. Following the discovery of a tunnel system used to smuggle drugs across the Mexican/US border , the group has been associated with such means of trafficking. The war between the Sinaloa and Tijuana cartels was supposedly at its worst from 1992 to the year 2000 with family members of some of the cartel's leaders living in fear or "everyday like it
9450-663: The raid In June 2006, Sakchai Makao, a 23-year-old man from Thailand, was dawn raided in Lerwick . A third of the Shetland Island population signed a petition to have him released. He was eventually released two weeks later. The campaign to free him later won the Scottish politician of the year award. On 12 July 2006, Servat and Sakine Temel and their three children were dawn raided and taken to England awaiting deportation to Turkey . In September 2006, Azzadine Benai escaped during
9555-547: The remote forests and deserts of California . According to the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit in Mexico City, as of 2020 the cartel has palpable territory within the Mexican regions of Sinaloa , Baja California , Baja California Sur , Durango , Sonora , Chihuahua , Coahuila , Edomex , Mexico City , Jalisco , Zacatecas , Colima , Aguascalientes , Querétaro , Guerrero , Oaxaca , Chiapas , Tabasco , Campeche , Yucatán and Quintana Roo . Due to
9660-700: The school when the families of his classmates excluded him from a school trip. A U.S. grand jury indictment alleges Guzmán López has been involved in his father's drug trafficking business since 2008, when he was a teenager. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury named him a "Key Lieutenant" of his father and the Sinaloa Cartel in a 2012 sanctions Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act"). It
9765-590: The seizure of more than $ 59 million in cash and numerous vehicles, planes, and boats. In March 2009, the Mexican Government announced the deployment of 1,000 Federal Police officers and 5,000 Mexican Army soldiers to restore order in Ciudad Juárez , which has suffered the highest number of casualties in the country. On 20 August 2009, the DEA broke up a large Mexican drug operation in Chicago, and uncovered
9870-399: The slogan of "No one is illegal". There has been speculation that the practice may be coming to an end for asylum seekers following criticisms from a wide range of people. On 1 February 2007 the deputy First Minister, Nichol Stephen condemned the practise of dawn raids describing them as "unacceptable and unnecessary." Some have speculated that this is part of a wider change in tactics on
9975-642: The third wave and eventually turning into the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history. Additionally, around 2014 a measurable rise in Colombian cocaine production and global consumption began to increase annually up to the present, currently marking a new high-point for the global use of cocaine. The cartel appears to still have major methamphetamine operations in cities throughout the U.S., such as in San Diego and Atlanta . The CDS as well as other large Mexican cartels have set up major marijuana growing operations in
10080-523: The time) was Sinaloa, with the city of Culiacán acting as its headquarters. In the late 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico. Gallardo was eventually arrested in 1989 and, while incarcerated, he remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining contact with his organization via mobile phone until he
10185-518: The unpermitted development allowed the building of a 2,400-foot (730-meter) drug "super tunnel" originating from the former Ejido Tampico and adjacent to the Tijuana airport's runway. As prior drug tunnels, it crossed under the U.S.-Mexico border into a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego with the capacity to move multi-ton loads of narcotics. Pre-dawn raid A police raid is an unexpected visit by police or other law enforcement officers with
10290-671: Was a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was a leader and founding member of Los Ántrax , an armed squadron formed to protect Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García, founding member of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was arrested on 30 December 2013, at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, at the petition of the United States of America, and with the help of Interpol, on charges related to drug trafficking. The cartel's loss of partners in Mexico does not appear to have affected its ability to smuggle drugs from South America to
10395-429: Was arrested. The capture of the Sinaloa Cartel's "El Chapo" Guzmán ignited a fight over the trial's location. Calls for his extradition to the United States started just hours after his arrest. Guzmán also faces federal indictment in several locations including San Diego, New York, and Texas, among other places. On 11 July 2015 "El Chapo" escaped from a maximum security prison , which is his second successful jailbreak from
10500-576: Was captured on 5 January 2023 and remanded to Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 , until he was extradited to the US on 15 September 2023, where he is currently awaiting trial. Guzmán López was born 29 March 1990 and is a son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán with his second wife. He was raised in Mexico City and spent four years of his education at a school run by the Legionaries of Christ . This biography states that Guzmán López's mother took him out of
10605-569: Was headed by old-school leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, as well as Guzmán's other sons, Alfredo Guzmán Salazar , Joaquín Guzmán López and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar , until 2024 when both Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were arrested by US authorities in El Paso, Texas. The cartel has had a significant impact on the War on drugs , both international and local politics, as well as in popular culture. Its influence extends beyond Mexico, with operations in
10710-730: Was in danger as other family members had been killed there. Dawn raids have become a regular feature in the arrest of asylum seekers in Scotland. These have caused a great deal of controversy and pressure has been brought to bear on the Scottish Executive to end the practise. Several support groups have been set up to oppose the practice of dawn raids, including the Glasgow Girls , the UNITY centre in Ibrox and No Border Network which campaigns under
10815-478: Was their last", as stated by Zambada's wife at the time. However, Zambada also used this conflict to his advantage since the Mexican government began to crackdown primarily on the Tijuana Cartel, Mayo used this weakening of his rivals as an opportunity for Sinaloa to step up in the trafficking world. By around the year 2000, Zambada became recognized as one of the biggest and most powerful drug lords in Mexico, having built strong distribution networks from Colombia to
10920-532: Was transferred to a new maximum security prison in the early 1990s. At that point his nephews, the Arellano Félix brothers, left and further solidified the organization which came to be known as the Tijuana Cartel , while the Sinaloa Cartel continued to be run by former lieutenants Héctor Luis Palma Salazar , Juan Jose Esparragoza and Joaquín Guzmán Loera. During this time, Sinaloa was considered to be at
11025-541: Was updated, with the trial attorney of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section of the Department of Justice substituting as Government counsel of record. On 28 February 2023, CBS News , Agence France-Presse , and Reuters quoted unnamed sources in the Mexican government as stating that the United States has formally requested Guzmán López's extradition. On 15 September 2023, the government of Mexico extradited Guzmán López to
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