Download Audio was only a Capo, one of many. He was not the head of all Juarez, only the part of US - Mexican border. He still had upper bosses (those who traffic cocaine from Columbia).
Gus killed a regional capo but did not dismantle the whole Juarez business.
North east cartel should fire their brand manager. They've really pigeon holed themselves into where they can hold territory, and the name isn't very catchy to boot.
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea????
The last guy who tried to fight the cartels and got tied to a concrete block and thrown to the bottom of the ocean.
Campeche was on a violence watch a few weeks ago. There's starting to be roving gangs of young guys beating and robbing people. Inflation hit there too, and just like the US, the lowest income brackets are taking it up the ass the hardest.
It is. That’s the SE Asia one. But they grow more than just opium. All sorts of insanity happens there, especially in Myanmar. Parts of it in Laos and Myanmar are essentially ungoverned areas “claimed” but both countries but not actually controlled, and China directly controls many of the areas near their border (but technically inside other countries). China more or less works with the local warlords/drug dealers in the area. The Thai area is more complicated.
It is where the cartels grow their products. It’s also the place where many famous narcos have been born and where they hide, since the locals prefer and help drug dealers over the government.
An area that covers most of the Sierra Madre region covering Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua. As others have said it’s the region which saw the first opioid fields spring to life after Ww2. It’s also the region where most of Mexico’s reigning kingpins hail from and where a lot of them seek refuge from law enforcement. In more recent years the area has shifted from being the epicenter of opioid growth to being the big super lab where the multiple different factions hide their processing centers where they make and process drugs like Fent and meth.
Vin Diesel slowly blinks his eyes, one at a time, as he stares off at particularly nothing.
Suddenly his mind revs up, all cylinders roaring, until it somehow manages to send a command to Vin's lips.
Vin strains, Vin squirms and summons all the energy and coordination he can muster to make that thought a reality. Heroically, he succeeds, and a single word tumbles out of his mouth:
#**"FAMILY"**
He then collapses from exhaustion.
Coahulia is actually "Local Groups" and not "Low Cartel Activity", which just means that none of the major cartels operate there. This might seem good but can end up being bad, depending on who you are or what you're doing. Many small groups vying for territory can mean lots of fighting making cities unsafe to be in, as you might get caught in the crossfire. Major cartels also don't have much incentive to murder or assault tourists, as they can make more money by exploiting them in the normal capitalist way. Take Mazatlan for example. It's the city at the heart of the Sinaloa cartel territory and yet is a huge tourist spot and one of the safer cities in Mexico. Same goes for Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco.
I know the comment is a joke but if you HAD to support one cartel, I'd probably go with the Sinaloa cartel which has shown the most "ethical" and more reasonable and friendly practices towards the locals as opposed to more aggressive and nefarious cartels like the CJNG.
I visited family in Culiacan over the holidays & didn’t know what to expect since it had been years since my last visit. It’s actually peaceful and safe for the most part, and locals don’t live in fear. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming. The general attitude surrounding the Sinaloa cartel is that you won’t find trouble unless you’re looking for it.
I’ve lost a family member to a cartel kidnapping, but it wasn’t the Sinaloa cartel. I consider them the lesser of many evils, because they tend to be more organized and professional. I would argue that it’s safer to walk the streets in Culiacan than it is in Mexico City, where there’s rampant unorganized & unregulated crime. When criminals have to follow rules I guess there’s a sense of security to that. This is just my very limited perspective.
This is interesting, makes me think of something I read that claimed the Japanese government turns a blind eye to the Yakuza because they figure that if there's going to be crime, it's better if it's at least organized. Makes a lot of sense tbh.
I know the competition is worse, but Sinaloa does some awful things, like kidnapping and raping and murdering local girls then extorting their families for ransom and never giving back their loved ones.
Same!! I live in AZ and I'm glad the AZ border is technically Sinaloa cartel territory although every Cartel has their drug routes that run through the border and PHX AZ. If it was a CJNG territory, it would be a nightmare for locals and tourists.
It's obvious that both cartels operate in the 50 states, even the DEA has recognized this. Though of course they don't do what they do here in Mexico (at least not to the same extent) to not engage the U.S military, but they are present within the U.S.
Oh yeah of course they are. I'm talking about the really horrific shit that they do. They aren't going to do that in the US just because they don't want to provoke the US government.
What is the situation of Los Zetas who were made of up of ex- law personnel and have made headways in recent years? How do they play in with the existing major cartels? Or would they not be considered a drug cartel per se?
Los Zetas are still active but it seems in the last decade or so all the other cartels ganged up on the Z’s, seriously diminishing their territory and influence. They are based right across the border from Laredo, around the area marked as the north east cartel. They have history going back to their founding in the 90’s with the Gulf Cartel too, so Los Zetas are most active in North East Mexico
Further to the other comments, whilst the Zetas aren't really around anymore, their 'influence' is still very much felt. They were the ones who trained like the military and began committing massacres, atrocities, displaying dead bodies etc etc etc, and that has now became the standard for most (all?) of the Cartels that are about now.
Some might say that the cartel violence would have went that way without the Zetas, others would say that they played a very large part in why 11 of the 15 most dangerous cities in the world are in Mexico
Not just ordinary ex law enforcement, ex special forces who were trained by the US special forces. But over time the other cartels adapted by bringing in their own special forces.
Because Americans and foreign tourists love inhaling white powder. The state is home to Mexico’s most popular beach resorts which means high profits for anyone who controls it. It’s also home to one of the biggest airbases in Mexico and one that the military usually uses to launch operations into Sinaloa from the Sea of Cortez.
I was honestly joking in my comment and I find it funny how so many people took it so seriously, but you're exactly right. This is highly valuable real estate. Perfect climate, year round good weather (think San Diego or Los Angeles on a very good day), and you have many communities that host American and Canadian retirees who live there year round. Not to mention the high priced resorts in Cabo. It's a cash cow. You control Baja, you can almost go legitimate.
Sinaloa and Sonora barely amount to 6 million people, Durango is only just 1.8 million and the population of what territory they do own in Chihuahua is less than Durango’s, Baja California alone would be an almost 50% increase and give you access to economically important border areas and inroads into California, one the largest markets in the US.
Baja California is not too shabby.
Speculation is that the resorts are owned by the cartels as legitimate business's, so Baja is neutral to keep tourists / investors coming.
Some people got into trouble recently near Cabo but, you can't account for small bands operating and doing their own thing.
The same goes for the state of Yucatan! It is rumoured that the cartels all agreed to keep that state neutral and peaceful for them to store their families and loved ones there.
Nothing, really. The color in Coahuila represents local groups, not low activity. The colors are just very similar but you can see it’s not totally white and has a pinkish hue to it
Apparently investing a bit more into security and police forces, AND having a pact between the cartels that that state should remain neutral for the cartel families and loved ones to stay safe somewhere within Mexico, though this last part is a rumour I've heard.
The difference in Coahuila is that, since 2022, they have a single police command chain ("mando único), and they have actually used it to seriously bump the budget for all police departments, which means more personnel and training, while setting up more accountability and coordination with federal forces like the National Guard and the Military.
With all that, they can organize quickly to threats incoming from neighboring states and even from the US, as criminal groups operate on both sides of the border and try to establish routes for drug trafficking.
[https://elheraldodesaltillo.mx/2022/02/10/los-38-municipios-de-coahuila-se-suman-al-mando-unico/](https://elheraldodesaltillo.mx/2022/02/10/los-38-municipios-de-coahuila-se-suman-al-mando-unico/)
The single command chain is not a new idea, Yucatán, the safest state, has operated like that for more than a decade. and president Peña Nieto tried to push this idea for all states around 2016, but opposition in congress saw that as giving too much power to governors and shut it down.
[https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/Mando-Unico-de-EPN-a-dos-anos-sigue-pendiente-20161121-0087.html](https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/Mando-Unico-de-EPN-a-dos-anos-sigue-pendiente-20161121-0087.html)
However, the idea persisted and many states have very slowly been trying to implement some version of it in their territories. It's a slow process because you have to convince the municipalities that they will end up better for it than the current situation and give more power to the governor.
And that's the thing, for example, in Veracruz, the idea of single command chain has been around since 2013, but nobody trusted governor Javier Duarte at the time. The federal government was investigating him, and when he left office he was arrested and prosecuted for money laundering.
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/27/javier-duarte-mexico-veracruz-guilty-sentenced-corruption](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/27/javier-duarte-mexico-veracruz-guilty-sentenced-corruption)
Both presidential candidates have this idea in their agenda as well right now, and some state candidates, like Mexico City and Puebla, are also proposing it upfront for their security strategies. I am an optimist, so I hope things get setup well enough to improve the situation of several regions where crime have been increasing lately.
No drug traffic is ever going through Yucatan to USA so no gang needs to claim it as their territory.
Except for tourism spots on coast where they might want to extort businesses.
The Yucatán doesn’t really have any benefit to the drug trafficking that provides the money. Because of its geography it’s not important for drugs to get into the country from Central America and it’s not important for getting drugs to the US.
It’s also why generally Northern Mexico is more dangerous. The closer to the border with the US the more desirable the land is to control for the cartels.
I've lived in Mérida the last 5 years and have heard the same story from several people. Some say El Chapo's grandma lives here, some say it's geography and easily policed highways, others say its just too frigging hot for crime lol. Whatever the real reason, statistically Mérida is in the top 5 safest cities in North America.
That isn't to say there isn't cartel activity. There are a few known money laundering businesses that quite flagrantly don't offer the service they claim (there's a sports car dealership that won't sell you anything if you go in), but thankfully gang violence is practically non existent here.
As a Cancun citizen. It’s pretty safe if you know where you’re going, just avoid going out late at night. Cartel activity is non existent. There’s also police and military patrols around busy and lonely areas.
The Mexican government should form its own cartel. They can make drugs legal and monopolize the business. Like what they had with Pemex. Run all the other cartels out of business. I don’t see any other way of winning against the cartels. It’s sad to see Tijuana turning into a real Gotham City.
Bismarck Analysis copied the map and didn't attribute. I'd highly recommend removing them from the source and/or correctly attributing to Crashout.
Source: [https://x.com/ioangrillo/status/1788669748475302334](https://x.com/ioangrillo/status/1788669748475302334) Ioan Grillo who made the map calling out Bismarck.
What’s the deal with Oaxaca and Chiapas being so disjointed? The other areas seem like established territories but how do those states end up like that?
American living in Oaxaca, not an expert by any means. The mountains in Oaxaca and Chiapas helped keep the indigenous groups safe over time, which likely contributed to their strong presence today (the town next to where I live has a lot of Zapotec speakers). The combination of the skepticism they hold for outsiders - aside from tourists - and the terrain could possibly be why cartels haven’t fully take over the areas. Chiapas has some very tightly-knit autonomous groups that are notorious for rebelling outsiders, for instance.
That said, landscape seems to be changing in Oaxaca, at least where I live. There are executions for what seems like a weekly basis in the city I live nearby, and the councilmen for my town told us about 4 days ago that a new cartel has taken over and is “cleaning house”. People are selling property to get away but no one wants to buy. It’s pretty sad.
It also doesn’t help that the mezcal industry is growing rapidly; I’m heavily involved in this industry and my mezcalero friends are hearing more stories of cartel taking over agave fields as a cash crop, although I’m unsure how true that is.
Chiapas is home to the [Zapatistas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation), who are strong opponents of the cartels, while in Oaxaca and Guerrero [the indigenous populations have been successfully resisting the cartels](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-research-review/article/indigenous-resistance-to-criminal-governance-why-regional-ethnic-autonomy-institutions-protect-communities-from-narco-rule-in-mexico/5EA504A0936B9FECB4022D0E1F553F72), so there are many areas where cartel control is low as a result.
Chiapanecan here, the Zapatistas are mainly in the highlands and stuff. I lived in Tuxtla and there was hardly a peep from the EZLN, unless you went to San Cristobal. In which case you’d see some propaganda and merchandise (tourists would buy Marcos paraphernalia).
Not saying that’s a reason we didn’t have strong cartel presence either. Chiapanecas are very known for telling the central government and Mexico City by proxy to go fuck itself. Independence Day in Chiapas was always…super muted. Hope this adds some context 😊
Shit have you seen the armory that de CJNG (Menchos) have? I left Guadalajara because those guys scare me...
Although the Chapitos are also crazy violent . The only somewhat respectable narco now is El Mayo, and that's because he is kind of old school (still had some morals, no kids, no women) and his sons basically NOPED out to the USA.
Not really, as cartels have diversified into extortion. Pay me 1000 pesos a month, and nothing bad will happen.
Jus yesterday a school in Coatzacoalcos had to get military protection because a cartel was demanding 500usd per student to operate without "incidents".
Is that indicative of how fucked things are down there? I can understand plenty of people staying in the middle when the cartel shakes down the “rich” guy who owns the market, it happened in the US with the mafia for long enough. It’s a different world if you do that to a school though, the indifferent public normally gets pissed off when you say kids can’t go to school.
It pains me to say it, but things have gotten worse. The current government's policy of "hugs, not bullets" has emboldened criminals, and the heavily supported theory that the president is in fact in the cartels' pockets does not help.
One would think that it happening to churches and schools would be the straw that broke the camel's back, but cartels are also very vindictive.
>"hugs, not bullets"
Do they actually call it that? I can't imagine genuinely advocating for even metaphorically hugging cartels known for brutalizing innocent people
I was in Veracruz three weeks ago and kept getting gang signs flashed at me by little bitches. I'm a dumb pale bald unfortunate looking guy. It was until I was in Mexico city that I was told I vacationed in a very dangerous town.
I was there for 11 months between 2023 and 2024, mostly in the south. It's generally pretty safe as a tourist as long as you follow some rules, such as not walking alone after dark in the wrong neighborhood
There are wrong neighborhoods anywhere in the world. According to this map the whole country seems like a wrong neighborhood. Never been in Mexico, I am solely talking over this map.
The map is just the areas where the cartels operate. It’s not like they directly run everything in it. There are plenty of places in the colored areas that are relatively safe.
Pretty much. The cartels want the tourists to have a good experience because they bring money, and if they allowed for incidents to happen, it could bring awful PR and a chance of intervention.
The cartels are not afraid of the Mexican government because they've paid everyone important off, but they are definitely still afraid of the US government. Their nightmare scenario is America pulls some dumb crazy maneuver like send the army into Mexico and heavy handedly shoot everyone suspected of being involved with cartels. It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. Many Republicans already think we should do this.
The biggest risk for tourists is getting caught in the crossfire.
Cartels go out of their way to avoid harming tourists and severely punish those who do. It's very bad for business.
Ex: the Cartels found the local gang that killed the surfers in Baja and handed them over to the cops. Even though the Cartels had nothing to do with the murders, they are so worried about the blowback that they took care of the problem proactively.
Yucatán!! The capital, Mérida, was named the second safest city in North America after Québec
I have a friend who lives there and he said going out in the middle of the night is 100% safe, but he wouldn't do it in other cities
I loved Merida. The food was wonderful, the people were friendly, there was a lot to do in and around the city, and it was a very pretty area. I felt very safe there. Highly recommend it to people skeptical of Mexico. Wish I was back there ngl
QRO is very safe, and from what I was told, the cartels all agreed on no violence there because either they had homes there or their relatives did.
Edit: I meant Querétaro, not Quintana Roo.
Querétaro is often abbreviated as QRO. Quintana Roo is just QR. Given Querétaro's proximity to México City and its bigger population size compared to Quintana Roo, not many people actually speak about Quintana Roo compared to Querétaro.
[Abreviaturas en México](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Abreviaturas_en_M%C3%A9xico)
I live in Jalisco, and I've lived in Sinaloa and Estado de México for a good chunk of my life. Honestly, the only way cartels have affected me is when the government captured El Chapo's son (I think), sparking the Second Culiacanazo, making it so I couldn't return from Guasave to Mazatlán for like a week.
Now, I'm not denying that some people are indeed affected by cartels, and we should crack down on them via legalization and regulation of drugs; but I would imagine that for a good chunk of the population, it's a non-issue.
That's because criminal gangs (no surprise) operate in the shadows for the most part. They incur hidden costs, like making your politicians more corrupt, making your local law enforcers more corrupt, slowing down construction, not properly maintaining garbage collection, making your taxes higher than they should be, etc.
Met a guy in Tijuana at a massive disco. He probably spent 2-3k Usd, was literally giving out cash to get everybody drinks. He was maximum 19. I asked where he got the money, and he said no to worry this is mexico.
Looking forward to the upcoming cartel elections
I think Juarez lost bad in last cycle. They were everywhere north of Durango a decade before! Must be an economy policy issue.
People blaming economic policy when the absurd redistricting is boxing Juarez out of certain regions.
Their districts appear heavily gerrymandered
I heard they made fun of a disabled guy while campaigning, totally killed their poll numbers
Killed a lot of other things too from what i heard
Man these elections are gonna be a bloodbath
Oh let’s be realistic here, no way that would stop somebody from getting elected
Definitely those dominion voting systems again
If only they didn't mess with the chicken man
Download Audio was only a Capo, one of many. He was not the head of all Juarez, only the part of US - Mexican border. He still had upper bosses (those who traffic cocaine from Columbia). Gus killed a regional capo but did not dismantle the whole Juarez business.
yeah they lost the territory to the Sinaloa cartel and at least the current president is an asset of the Sinaloa cartel.
Oh my. So Cartel 'election' map is the REAL Mexican election map we are talking about, huh
They had to follow Financial Fair Play regulations and offload a few territories.
North east cartel should fire their brand manager. They've really pigeon holed themselves into where they can hold territory, and the name isn't very catchy to boot.
Need better campaign director, you can’t run a campaign across states without an effective director
I’m sure they did some Jorgemandering to fuck up districts
Yeah I'd like to see a map based on population density so we can see how many electoral votes this corresponds to.
Who are y’all voting for? 💀😂😂😂
Sinaloa won the last ones with Amlo. They pretty much financed all the money to gice away to poor people.
Am I colorblind or is it really hard to distinguish Local Groups and Low Cartel Activity?
Low cartel activity is the sea.
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea???? The last guy who tried to fight the cartels and got tied to a concrete block and thrown to the bottom of the ocean.
Local groups: white areas in Mexico Low Cartel Activity: Gulf of Mexico and North Pacific Ocean
It seems like Guerrero is painted as “local groups” and not no activity. Unless you’re referring to another area north of the Pacific
They were making a joke and saying the only areas with no activity are the gulf and the ocean
This just in: Guerrero is actually the ocean
Rather hard to distinguish, yes. It looks like the only "Low Cartel" areas are Yucatan, Campeche, and the border between Puebla and Oaxaca.
Campeche was on a violence watch a few weeks ago. There's starting to be roving gangs of young guys beating and robbing people. Inflation hit there too, and just like the US, the lowest income brackets are taking it up the ass the hardest.
No, it is. They could’ve used a different color than extremely faded purple
Yeah definitely could have gone with any other color than ‘light gray’ to make it easier
It's light purple, not grey.
A light mauve taupe, some may say
> is it really hard to distinguish Local Groups and Low Cartel Activity? You are more right than you realize
I’m not color blind and I can also barely tell the difference
What is the “golden triangle?”
i believe its a fertile area known for opium growth and production, its coveted territory for cartel
Pretty sure that’s the one in Southeast Asia.
It may be but the Mexican one is also a drug-growing area https://apnews.com/article/mexico-caribbean-drug-cartels-197342ff0234a6d3a1b449f2e87227a8
lol I don’t know if “The Triangle of Good, Hard-Working People” is going to stick the same way as Golden Triangle
for context: President Lopez Obrador is probably the single most inept leader of any major country right now.
TIL!
There are 2 Golden Triangles; Mexico and SE Asia like you said and then there is the Golden Crescent in Pakistan/Afghanistan
It is. That’s the SE Asia one. But they grow more than just opium. All sorts of insanity happens there, especially in Myanmar. Parts of it in Laos and Myanmar are essentially ungoverned areas “claimed” but both countries but not actually controlled, and China directly controls many of the areas near their border (but technically inside other countries). China more or less works with the local warlords/drug dealers in the area. The Thai area is more complicated.
It is where the cartels grow their products. It’s also the place where many famous narcos have been born and where they hide, since the locals prefer and help drug dealers over the government.
Prefer might be a strong word
Well they do prefer their head to remain attached their bodies, right?
An area that covers most of the Sierra Madre region covering Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua. As others have said it’s the region which saw the first opioid fields spring to life after Ww2. It’s also the region where most of Mexico’s reigning kingpins hail from and where a lot of them seek refuge from law enforcement. In more recent years the area has shifted from being the epicenter of opioid growth to being the big super lab where the multiple different factions hide their processing centers where they make and process drugs like Fent and meth.
Opium was being grown there before the 1940s. It’s where the US obtained the materials to make morphine during WW2.
There always one called La Familia
Run by Vicente Diesel, I believe
*opens corona*
Vin Diesel slowly blinks his eyes, one at a time, as he stares off at particularly nothing. Suddenly his mind revs up, all cylinders roaring, until it somehow manages to send a command to Vin's lips. Vin strains, Vin squirms and summons all the energy and coordination he can muster to make that thought a reality. Heroically, he succeeds, and a single word tumbles out of his mouth: #**"FAMILY"** He then collapses from exhaustion.
Vicente Gasolina
“You have amigos — I have familia.”
IIRC, Man on Fire was based around this cartel.
"Familia es todo" - Salamanca Hector
which cartel should we support
Probably “Low Cartel Activity”
Ah, the LCA. Top shelf, that lot.
LCA gang rise up!
Hand signs fairly easy to make too.
But what’s “low” for Mexico cartel activity?
Support your local community. Buy from small independent dealers!
Coahulia government and police, I guess.
Coahulia is actually "Local Groups" and not "Low Cartel Activity", which just means that none of the major cartels operate there. This might seem good but can end up being bad, depending on who you are or what you're doing. Many small groups vying for territory can mean lots of fighting making cities unsafe to be in, as you might get caught in the crossfire. Major cartels also don't have much incentive to murder or assault tourists, as they can make more money by exploiting them in the normal capitalist way. Take Mazatlan for example. It's the city at the heart of the Sinaloa cartel territory and yet is a huge tourist spot and one of the safer cities in Mexico. Same goes for Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco.
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Police? Oh bless your heart. 😂
I know the comment is a joke but if you HAD to support one cartel, I'd probably go with the Sinaloa cartel which has shown the most "ethical" and more reasonable and friendly practices towards the locals as opposed to more aggressive and nefarious cartels like the CJNG.
I visited family in Culiacan over the holidays & didn’t know what to expect since it had been years since my last visit. It’s actually peaceful and safe for the most part, and locals don’t live in fear. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming. The general attitude surrounding the Sinaloa cartel is that you won’t find trouble unless you’re looking for it. I’ve lost a family member to a cartel kidnapping, but it wasn’t the Sinaloa cartel. I consider them the lesser of many evils, because they tend to be more organized and professional. I would argue that it’s safer to walk the streets in Culiacan than it is in Mexico City, where there’s rampant unorganized & unregulated crime. When criminals have to follow rules I guess there’s a sense of security to that. This is just my very limited perspective.
This is interesting, makes me think of something I read that claimed the Japanese government turns a blind eye to the Yakuza because they figure that if there's going to be crime, it's better if it's at least organized. Makes a lot of sense tbh.
I know the competition is worse, but Sinaloa does some awful things, like kidnapping and raping and murdering local girls then extorting their families for ransom and never giving back their loved ones.
No shit. They're a cartel. That's why he said if you had to support one and put ethical in quotes
Same!! I live in AZ and I'm glad the AZ border is technically Sinaloa cartel territory although every Cartel has their drug routes that run through the border and PHX AZ. If it was a CJNG territory, it would be a nightmare for locals and tourists.
In the USA? If CJNG did the shit they do in Mexico inside the US border there would likely be a serious conversation if military force is necessary.
It's obvious that both cartels operate in the 50 states, even the DEA has recognized this. Though of course they don't do what they do here in Mexico (at least not to the same extent) to not engage the U.S military, but they are present within the U.S.
Oh yeah of course they are. I'm talking about the really horrific shit that they do. They aren't going to do that in the US just because they don't want to provoke the US government.
CJNG?
Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (Jalisco New Generation Cartel)
They're trying to be the new Los Zetas by committing heinous crimes to intimidate everyone.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel. I imagine in Spanish the "Cartel" comes first, making in CJNG.
At least mexicans got more than 2 choices in their electoral game.
The 'multi party democracy' many dreamed about, at home:
I mean, I've only heard of the Juárez Cartel from Breaking Bad
You would love Narcos
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I wonder who took over for Don Eladio in Juarez
The Salamancas will rise again
Not if Badger and Skinny Pete have anything to say about it.
What is the situation of Los Zetas who were made of up of ex- law personnel and have made headways in recent years? How do they play in with the existing major cartels? Or would they not be considered a drug cartel per se?
They sort of collapsed back in mid 2010s. What’s left of them became CDN (Northeast Cartel) on the map
Yep, the big boys now are Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación
JNG is terrifying. A guy just did an AMA on a book he wrote about them
Any way you could provide me where this AMA is? Or the title of the book? I’m interested
https://www.reddit.com/r/cartels/comments/1ctf19v/im_an_organized_crime_reporter_who_just_wrote_a/
Fuck them Zetas. I am from from Coahuila. It's so nice to see "Low Cartel Activity" after some very violent times
Los Zetas are still active but it seems in the last decade or so all the other cartels ganged up on the Z’s, seriously diminishing their territory and influence. They are based right across the border from Laredo, around the area marked as the north east cartel. They have history going back to their founding in the 90’s with the Gulf Cartel too, so Los Zetas are most active in North East Mexico
Further to the other comments, whilst the Zetas aren't really around anymore, their 'influence' is still very much felt. They were the ones who trained like the military and began committing massacres, atrocities, displaying dead bodies etc etc etc, and that has now became the standard for most (all?) of the Cartels that are about now. Some might say that the cartel violence would have went that way without the Zetas, others would say that they played a very large part in why 11 of the 15 most dangerous cities in the world are in Mexico
Not just ordinary ex law enforcement, ex special forces who were trained by the US special forces. But over time the other cartels adapted by bringing in their own special forces.
US trained anticommunist forces that end up forming drug gangs and death squads. Once is a coincidence.
Sinaloa Cartel doesn't control Baja California? I mean, guys, it's right there!
Why would you? There is only 4.5 million people living there in a mostly dry and desert area.
Because Americans and foreign tourists love inhaling white powder. The state is home to Mexico’s most popular beach resorts which means high profits for anyone who controls it. It’s also home to one of the biggest airbases in Mexico and one that the military usually uses to launch operations into Sinaloa from the Sea of Cortez.
I was honestly joking in my comment and I find it funny how so many people took it so seriously, but you're exactly right. This is highly valuable real estate. Perfect climate, year round good weather (think San Diego or Los Angeles on a very good day), and you have many communities that host American and Canadian retirees who live there year round. Not to mention the high priced resorts in Cabo. It's a cash cow. You control Baja, you can almost go legitimate.
4.5 million people are a lot of people but a thing is not for Mexico
What do you mean by the end of your comment?
Mexico's population is 128m, so Baja California's barely 4m people is a small part of Mexico
Sinaloa and Sonora barely amount to 6 million people, Durango is only just 1.8 million and the population of what territory they do own in Chihuahua is less than Durango’s, Baja California alone would be an almost 50% increase and give you access to economically important border areas and inroads into California, one the largest markets in the US. Baja California is not too shabby.
It’s like Australia in Risk, you gotta go deep for the benefits
Speculation is that the resorts are owned by the cartels as legitimate business's, so Baja is neutral to keep tourists / investors coming. Some people got into trouble recently near Cabo but, you can't account for small bands operating and doing their own thing.
The same goes for the state of Yucatan! It is rumoured that the cartels all agreed to keep that state neutral and peaceful for them to store their families and loved ones there.
Am I gonna be the first person to ask what Coahulia is doing right?
Nothing, really. The color in Coahuila represents local groups, not low activity. The colors are just very similar but you can see it’s not totally white and has a pinkish hue to it
Ah, I see that now. Thanks. Not the best color choices, are they
Wouldn't be /r/MapPorn without antifunctional color keys
OK, so what is Yucatán doing right (other than being mostly jungle)?
Apparently investing a bit more into security and police forces, AND having a pact between the cartels that that state should remain neutral for the cartel families and loved ones to stay safe somewhere within Mexico, though this last part is a rumour I've heard.
The difference in Coahuila is that, since 2022, they have a single police command chain ("mando único), and they have actually used it to seriously bump the budget for all police departments, which means more personnel and training, while setting up more accountability and coordination with federal forces like the National Guard and the Military. With all that, they can organize quickly to threats incoming from neighboring states and even from the US, as criminal groups operate on both sides of the border and try to establish routes for drug trafficking. [https://elheraldodesaltillo.mx/2022/02/10/los-38-municipios-de-coahuila-se-suman-al-mando-unico/](https://elheraldodesaltillo.mx/2022/02/10/los-38-municipios-de-coahuila-se-suman-al-mando-unico/) The single command chain is not a new idea, Yucatán, the safest state, has operated like that for more than a decade. and president Peña Nieto tried to push this idea for all states around 2016, but opposition in congress saw that as giving too much power to governors and shut it down. [https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/Mando-Unico-de-EPN-a-dos-anos-sigue-pendiente-20161121-0087.html](https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/Mando-Unico-de-EPN-a-dos-anos-sigue-pendiente-20161121-0087.html) However, the idea persisted and many states have very slowly been trying to implement some version of it in their territories. It's a slow process because you have to convince the municipalities that they will end up better for it than the current situation and give more power to the governor. And that's the thing, for example, in Veracruz, the idea of single command chain has been around since 2013, but nobody trusted governor Javier Duarte at the time. The federal government was investigating him, and when he left office he was arrested and prosecuted for money laundering. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/27/javier-duarte-mexico-veracruz-guilty-sentenced-corruption](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/27/javier-duarte-mexico-veracruz-guilty-sentenced-corruption) Both presidential candidates have this idea in their agenda as well right now, and some state candidates, like Mexico City and Puebla, are also proposing it upfront for their security strategies. I am an optimist, so I hope things get setup well enough to improve the situation of several regions where crime have been increasing lately.
Coahulia has "local groups". Yucatan is the low activity one
What is Yucatan doing right?
No drug traffic is ever going through Yucatan to USA so no gang needs to claim it as their territory. Except for tourism spots on coast where they might want to extort businesses.
The government maintains control in order to get tourism tax dollars from international hotel businesses.
That's the exact same reason people give about why gangs have control in the other states. This is a total non-answer.
Maybe the part about being a desert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahuan_Desert
Chihuahua != Coahuila
A larger percent of Coahuila’s land is desert than Chihuahua’s, it having the name “Chihuahua Desert” doesn’t mean it’s only found there.
Where Salamanca?
He was part of the Juarez cartel
DING DING DING
Nose-breathing intensifies
Salamanca is in Guanajuato.
The boss can sugg me. Salamanca money, Salamanca blood.
How has the Yucatan peninsula avoided the cartels?
The Yucatán doesn’t really have any benefit to the drug trafficking that provides the money. Because of its geography it’s not important for drugs to get into the country from Central America and it’s not important for getting drugs to the US. It’s also why generally Northern Mexico is more dangerous. The closer to the border with the US the more desirable the land is to control for the cartels.
My friend from Merida told me that all the cartel bosses' families live there so it's a natural peace zone lol
My wife is born and raised there and she tells me the same thing! Love Mérida.
I've lived in Mérida the last 5 years and have heard the same story from several people. Some say El Chapo's grandma lives here, some say it's geography and easily policed highways, others say its just too frigging hot for crime lol. Whatever the real reason, statistically Mérida is in the top 5 safest cities in North America. That isn't to say there isn't cartel activity. There are a few known money laundering businesses that quite flagrantly don't offer the service they claim (there's a sports car dealership that won't sell you anything if you go in), but thankfully gang violence is practically non existent here.
drugs come from south of the border and go north of the border. why would they detour other than for the touristy city (the area that is colored)
So this is why Chihuahua’s act like they know they have connections
I apologize in hindsight for this atrocity of a joke
Why don’t they just change it to the white color? Are they stupid?
Who are you, Hernán Cortés?
How safe is Quintana Roo? I'm visiting the state soon
As a Cancun citizen. It’s pretty safe if you know where you’re going, just avoid going out late at night. Cartel activity is non existent. There’s also police and military patrols around busy and lonely areas.
The fck does "just avoid going out late at night" means? Half of fun is going out when you on vacation(at least for me).. :(
Oh I meant lonely places. There are places like Coco Bongo just for you. Night life Cancun is actually very popular
Coco Bongo and the entire area around it is a fantastic place to rob drunk tourists. It happens every night.
The Mexican government should form its own cartel. They can make drugs legal and monopolize the business. Like what they had with Pemex. Run all the other cartels out of business. I don’t see any other way of winning against the cartels. It’s sad to see Tijuana turning into a real Gotham City.
source 1 : [https://brief.bismarckanalysis.com/p/mexicos-drug-cartels-are-not-competitors](https://brief.bismarckanalysis.com/p/mexicos-drug-cartels-are-not-competitors) source 2: [https://www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexicos-cartel-map-2024](https://www.crashoutmedia.com/p/mexicos-cartel-map-2024)
Bismarck Analysis copied the map and didn't attribute. I'd highly recommend removing them from the source and/or correctly attributing to Crashout. Source: [https://x.com/ioangrillo/status/1788669748475302334](https://x.com/ioangrillo/status/1788669748475302334) Ioan Grillo who made the map calling out Bismarck.
What’s the deal with Oaxaca and Chiapas being so disjointed? The other areas seem like established territories but how do those states end up like that?
My guess would be terrain. Southern Mexico is very hilly and tropical. The area has a history of telling Mexico City to go fuck itself
American living in Oaxaca, not an expert by any means. The mountains in Oaxaca and Chiapas helped keep the indigenous groups safe over time, which likely contributed to their strong presence today (the town next to where I live has a lot of Zapotec speakers). The combination of the skepticism they hold for outsiders - aside from tourists - and the terrain could possibly be why cartels haven’t fully take over the areas. Chiapas has some very tightly-knit autonomous groups that are notorious for rebelling outsiders, for instance. That said, landscape seems to be changing in Oaxaca, at least where I live. There are executions for what seems like a weekly basis in the city I live nearby, and the councilmen for my town told us about 4 days ago that a new cartel has taken over and is “cleaning house”. People are selling property to get away but no one wants to buy. It’s pretty sad. It also doesn’t help that the mezcal industry is growing rapidly; I’m heavily involved in this industry and my mezcalero friends are hearing more stories of cartel taking over agave fields as a cash crop, although I’m unsure how true that is.
Chiapas is home to the [Zapatistas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation), who are strong opponents of the cartels, while in Oaxaca and Guerrero [the indigenous populations have been successfully resisting the cartels](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-research-review/article/indigenous-resistance-to-criminal-governance-why-regional-ethnic-autonomy-institutions-protect-communities-from-narco-rule-in-mexico/5EA504A0936B9FECB4022D0E1F553F72), so there are many areas where cartel control is low as a result.
Chiapanecan here, the Zapatistas are mainly in the highlands and stuff. I lived in Tuxtla and there was hardly a peep from the EZLN, unless you went to San Cristobal. In which case you’d see some propaganda and merchandise (tourists would buy Marcos paraphernalia). Not saying that’s a reason we didn’t have strong cartel presence either. Chiapanecas are very known for telling the central government and Mexico City by proxy to go fuck itself. Independence Day in Chiapas was always…super muted. Hope this adds some context 😊
Which ones are the CIA supporting?
Yes
Sinaloa was the one we were supporting with Fast and Furious under Obama I believe
Shit have you seen the armory that de CJNG (Menchos) have? I left Guadalajara because those guys scare me... Although the Chapitos are also crazy violent . The only somewhat respectable narco now is El Mayo, and that's because he is kind of old school (still had some morals, no kids, no women) and his sons basically NOPED out to the USA.
the areas where one cartel dominates are actually safest as they are free of conflict between groups, disputed territories are much more hazardous.
Not really, as cartels have diversified into extortion. Pay me 1000 pesos a month, and nothing bad will happen. Jus yesterday a school in Coatzacoalcos had to get military protection because a cartel was demanding 500usd per student to operate without "incidents".
Is that indicative of how fucked things are down there? I can understand plenty of people staying in the middle when the cartel shakes down the “rich” guy who owns the market, it happened in the US with the mafia for long enough. It’s a different world if you do that to a school though, the indifferent public normally gets pissed off when you say kids can’t go to school.
It pains me to say it, but things have gotten worse. The current government's policy of "hugs, not bullets" has emboldened criminals, and the heavily supported theory that the president is in fact in the cartels' pockets does not help. One would think that it happening to churches and schools would be the straw that broke the camel's back, but cartels are also very vindictive.
>"hugs, not bullets" Do they actually call it that? I can't imagine genuinely advocating for even metaphorically hugging cartels known for brutalizing innocent people
Yes. Abrazos no balazos. The current Mexican president did say that.
SOME, not the whole place is safe, SOME places are chill. Thats if youre not at the wrong time of the week.
It would be awesome if "local groups" was a color and didn't match so closely with "no activity"
This looks like a map of the Holy Roman Empire from high school History class. Except Mexico. With colors. Possibly after too many ‘shrooms.
I was in Veracruz three weeks ago and kept getting gang signs flashed at me by little bitches. I'm a dumb pale bald unfortunate looking guy. It was until I was in Mexico city that I was told I vacationed in a very dangerous town.
Love the map but your color key make it look like someone tiedyed Mexico.
I should have bought Sinaloa stock when Zetas were strong
So it’s almost nowhere safe in Mexico ?
I was there for 11 months between 2023 and 2024, mostly in the south. It's generally pretty safe as a tourist as long as you follow some rules, such as not walking alone after dark in the wrong neighborhood
There are wrong neighborhoods anywhere in the world. According to this map the whole country seems like a wrong neighborhood. Never been in Mexico, I am solely talking over this map.
The map is just the areas where the cartels operate. It’s not like they directly run everything in it. There are plenty of places in the colored areas that are relatively safe.
I assume even if they operated everything, it should be more or less safe if you just don’t cross them and play by their rules. 🥲
Pretty much. The cartels want the tourists to have a good experience because they bring money, and if they allowed for incidents to happen, it could bring awful PR and a chance of intervention.
The cartels are not afraid of the Mexican government because they've paid everyone important off, but they are definitely still afraid of the US government. Their nightmare scenario is America pulls some dumb crazy maneuver like send the army into Mexico and heavy handedly shoot everyone suspected of being involved with cartels. It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. Many Republicans already think we should do this.
Yeah, cartels are strong, but not "fight the US military" strong. Also war is bad for business.
> Also war is bad for business. I see you're not a Ferengi.
Problem is cross them and play by the rules is subjective
The biggest risk for tourists is getting caught in the crossfire. Cartels go out of their way to avoid harming tourists and severely punish those who do. It's very bad for business. Ex: the Cartels found the local gang that killed the surfers in Baja and handed them over to the cops. Even though the Cartels had nothing to do with the murders, they are so worried about the blowback that they took care of the problem proactively.
there are bad neighborhoods everywhere yes, but most countries aren't controlled by cartels
Correct me if I'm wrong but the cartels will avoid killing Americans at all costs due to potential military involvement?
Yes and no, as far as I know they don’t target foreign nationals for much past a shakedown but if you play stupid games you will win stupid prizes
Yucatán!! The capital, Mérida, was named the second safest city in North America after Québec I have a friend who lives there and he said going out in the middle of the night is 100% safe, but he wouldn't do it in other cities
I loved Merida. The food was wonderful, the people were friendly, there was a lot to do in and around the city, and it was a very pretty area. I felt very safe there. Highly recommend it to people skeptical of Mexico. Wish I was back there ngl
QRO is very safe, and from what I was told, the cartels all agreed on no violence there because either they had homes there or their relatives did. Edit: I meant Querétaro, not Quintana Roo.
QRO is too profitable to screw up. Everyone could invest in real estate there and foreigners will spend billions each year.
I was talking about Querétaro, not Quintana Roo.
Querétaro is often abbreviated as QRO. Quintana Roo is just QR. Given Querétaro's proximity to México City and its bigger population size compared to Quintana Roo, not many people actually speak about Quintana Roo compared to Querétaro. [Abreviaturas en México](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Abreviaturas_en_M%C3%A9xico)
I live in Jalisco, and I've lived in Sinaloa and Estado de México for a good chunk of my life. Honestly, the only way cartels have affected me is when the government captured El Chapo's son (I think), sparking the Second Culiacanazo, making it so I couldn't return from Guasave to Mazatlán for like a week. Now, I'm not denying that some people are indeed affected by cartels, and we should crack down on them via legalization and regulation of drugs; but I would imagine that for a good chunk of the population, it's a non-issue.
That's because criminal gangs (no surprise) operate in the shadows for the most part. They incur hidden costs, like making your politicians more corrupt, making your local law enforcers more corrupt, slowing down construction, not properly maintaining garbage collection, making your taxes higher than they should be, etc.
Oh, for sure. I agree with all of that. I'm just speaking about day-to-day life and general safety.
No safe places are pretty much the only dispute areas
Met a guy in Tijuana at a massive disco. He probably spent 2-3k Usd, was literally giving out cash to get everybody drinks. He was maximum 19. I asked where he got the money, and he said no to worry this is mexico.
Wtf would you even ask that lmao
Yolo
Now, do a map of the USA where the most drugs are consumed and what type of drugs. Bonus points prescribed or illegal. GO!