The Scope of Sinaloa and El Chapo’s Influence

Mexico has announced the arrest of six key people who assisted in the escape of Sinaloa cartel leader, Joaquin Guzman, also known as El Chapo. Guzman escaped on July 11^th, evading security through a hidden one-mile tunnel. Among those arrested was his brother in law who is assumed to have supervised the construction of the mile long escape tunnel and organized transport.

Guzman was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 following nearly a decade in a maximum security Mexican jail. He reportedly escaped in a laundry basket. He escaped for 13 years before being held again in 2014. Guzman was captured while hiding out in the resort city of Mazatlan. With Guzman’s escape, the cartel was able to prove again, its status as the world leader in illegal narcotics.

Sinaloa stands as the biggest trafficking operation in the world, controlling all of its own production as well as consumer market. Originating in the mountains of the Sinaloa state on Mexico, the cartel now expands throughout the country and the world. Cartel Operatives are stationed in at least 17 Mexican states and up to 50 countries.  The area of marijuana and poppy fields that Guzman oversees in Mexico is estimated to cover an area larger than Costa Rica.

The cartel is known for its wide array of techniques for smuggling drugs across the border into the US. Cocaine has been found in frozen sharks, sprinkled on doughnuts, and crammed into cucumbers. The cartel controls 35% of the cocaine exported from Columbia. According to the DEA in 2013, Sinaloa accounts for 80% of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine in the Chicago metropolitan area each year.

In 2008, it was reported by DEA and Justice Department officials that radical Islamic groups such as Hamas, and Hezbollah have become associates of the Mexican drug cartels including Sinaloa. Hezbollah had been involved in the tri border region of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina; viewing the US as a financial source. Using the drug cartel routes, Hezbollah was able to smuggle drugs and people into the US. Hezbollah maintains sleeper cells and training bases in Mexico. They have also helped the drug cartels make explosives.

The Middle East mainly covers heroin- trafficking with the Sinaloa bosses producing methamphetamine with chemicals from Asia. Three different criminal sources in China have been linked to Sinaloa including Sun Yee On (Heaven and Earth), Sap Sze Wui (14 Carat), and Huen Tai Wo- and Tsai (Great Circle).  Three brothers from Sinaloa were also charged by Malaysian officials for operating a meth lab in the country.

According to reports by the House Homeland Security Committee in 2012, the “Southwest border has become the greatest threat of terrorist infiltration into the United States.” The report explains that the presence of Hezbollah in Latin America is partially due to a large Lebanese diaspora. Hezbollah and Venezuela maintain close ties. Sinaloa has also recently been found using a Middle Eastern honor system of financial transfer known as Hawala, in order to launder drug proceeds.

Guzman is high profile billionaire leader, but the Cartel’s solid hierarchical structure insures that even Guzman’s capture or death would not halt the organization’s operations.  In operation since the 1980s, Sinaloa has maintained power through the murder of rivals, cops, and journalists, and through extensive bribery, providing deep connections to many of Mexico’s governing elite, including politicians, military and police.