Founded by the Arellano-Flix family, the cartel once was described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico". Stephanie Brewer, director for Mexico at the Washington Office on Latin America. Felbab-Brown has studied the difference between how each cartel operates. As a result of these efforts, the Tijuana cartel is unable to project much power outside of its base in Tijuana. Benjamn Arellano Flix Francisco Rafael Arellano Flix Ramn . [38][39] It was later reduced to .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}23+12 years in 2015 and he will be released soon. The discovery of two severed heads in Mexico City has raised concerns that the capital may no longer be immune, Forensic examiners recovering bodies from mass graves in remote terrain has become commonplace during Mexicos drug war, but criminal groups, Poverty and lack of opportunity are supplying Mexico's drug trafficking organizations with waves of fresh recruits. After Archbishop Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo is killed in a shootout between the two cartels, the Mexican and US governments form a joint task force to fight the cartels. There cannot be one single dominant criminal actor in a country as politically, economically and criminally diverse as Mexico. In the city of Tijuana, in the Pacific state of Baja California, the CJNG and Sinaloa Cartel are the main providers of synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl. Chris Arturo Pichardo contributed to this report. Al Crtel de Sinaloa le vendran los mejores aos en su actividad delictiva, mientras el Crtel de Tijuana iba en picada. Authorities hope the arrests prove they are in control and that they make people feel safe. That was way the Arellano Felix brothers operation included other clans in Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles. Lopez Obrador seems to be doubling down on this failed strategy, Brewer said. Arellano Felix brought with him just his henchman Alambra, as Benjamin told him that any more hitmen would draw attention to the cartel. Moses Zazueta Ramirez is back at work after taking two days off out of fear of more cartel violence. This criminal organization is responsible for the transportation, importation, and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, as well as large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine.[22]. Among the CJNG's most consistent enemies in the area have been theCartel del Abuelo and Los Viagras. VICE 16.6M subscribers Subscribe 1.8M views 4 months ago #elchapo #sinaloa The Sinaloa Cartel are probably the richest and most powerful criminal organization on Earth. Chapo has always been smart and innovative. The suspects arrested Tuesday in Tijuana. Our study found that MS-13 leaders have made several attempts to . These battles for territorial control have caused violence to flare up. Borja Vilalta-Castellanos, 36 . According toscar Balderas, a Mexican journalist and expert in organized crime, Tamaulipas is divided between the Northeast Cartel (Cartel del Noreste)and the New Blood Zetas (Zetas Sangre Nueva), as well as the remnants of the Gulf Cartel. Eduardo Arellano Flix was captured by the Mexican Army after a shootout in Tijuana on October 26, 2008;[20] he had been the last of the Arellano Flix brothers at large. Currently, the majority of Mexico's smuggling routes are controlled by three key cartels: Gulf, Sinaloa and Tijuanathough Tijuana is the least powerful. Shops and bystanders were being targeted, with some officials saying it was in retaliation to arrests of high-level cartel leaders and others attributing it to disputes between gangs. He then proceeded to declare war on the Gulf Cartel, arranging for a series of raids targeting Cardenas Guillen and his brother, Antonio Cardenas Guillen, in Nuevo Leon, starting a new war. In November 2020 it was reported emissaries from the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel had been seen in Tijuana attempting to form an alliance with the now resurgent Tijuana Cartel. "Federal authorities say there was no terrorism, but we say we had terrorism here in Tijuana," he told NPR. [16] To be exact, experts told InSight Crime that the peace exists because Joaqun Guzmn Loera wants it that way, and argued that his organizationthe Sinaloa Cartelhas become spread too thin with its wars with Los Zetas and the Jurez Cartel and that opening a third war would be inconvenient. SAN DIEGO - An indictment was unsealed today in federal court charging 60 members of a San Diego-based international methamphetamine distribution network tied to the Sinaloa Cartel with drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms offenses. Investigators say the attack was carried out by Los Salazar, a Sonoran-based criminal group affiliated with Los Chapitos, the sons of infamous Sinaloa Cartel drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.The people they targeted worked under Felipe Eduardo Barajas Lozano ('El Omega'), a local drug kingpin. Why the Jalisco Cartel Does Not Dominate Mexico's Criminal Landscape, Mexico's Role in the Deadly Rise of Fentanyl, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aliasEl Mencho,, Morelos, Mexicos Latest Hotspot for Fragmented Criminal Showdowns, The Slow Death of Mexico's Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, Wildlife Protection Treaty Hits 50 Amid Challenges, Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted, Brutal but Futile: Venezuela's Anti-Gang 'Mega-Operations', MS13s Mexico Program Key to El Salvador Gang Negotiations, Peace Leaders in Putumayo, Colombia Bet Their Lives on Coca Crop Substitution, Pablo Escobar and the Real Criminal Story of the Cocaine Bear, Severed Heads in Mexico City do not Signal Capital's Decline, Walled Inside Homes, Corpses of Mexico's Disappeared Evade Authorities, Poverty a Recruitment Tool for Mexico's Criminal Gangs. Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero says she understands that many residents do take their cues from the cartels, and she is determined to change that. Th. Their protection strategy and preparations have been described as "paramilitary in nature" by Mexican enforcement officials. [42] Once that is served, he will be sent back to Mexico to finish another 22 years for a conviction there.[43]. "Let me put it as an example where I live," said Ramirez, the restaurant worker. After Benjamn barely escapes from being captured by the soldiers, he goes into hiding, leaving Enedina in charge of day-to-day operations. Headlines and US indictments have confidently proclaimed the Jalisco Cartel to be Mexico's dominant criminal group. "And I cannot allow a cartel to rule my citizens. [16] According to Mexican and U.S. authorities, most of Tijuana is under the dominance of the Sinaloa cartel, while Luis Fernando Snchez Arellano of the Tijuana cartel remains the "head of that puppet empire". [44] He pleaded guilty to money laundering and is serving 15 years. Investigators had linked the airline's owner, Jess Villegas Covallos, to Ramn Arellano Flix.[9]. In the aftermath, the Guadalajara Cartel split into three different criminal organizations that controlled different territories in Mexico, he said. Ramn was eventually killed in a gun battle with police at Mazatln in Sinaloa, on February 10, 2002. During that time, homicides in Mexico have increased significantly and the cartels have not slowed down. Pero la cada . Unfortunately, what we have seen over the past 10 to 15 years is a lot of repetition of the same go-to strategies, which consists largely of military deployment, said Stephanie Brewer, Director for Mexico at the Washington Office on Latin America, or WOLA. But much of the efforts done between 2008 and 2010 in Tijuana would not have been possible without the coordination of local police forces and the Mexican military and possibly with a cartel truce to put down the violence. They set up their command center outside Tijuana. His downfall ended the war between the two cartels. The Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion has a different approach. The San Diego-Tijuana border region was jolted just over a week ago, when cartel members launched a campaign of terror on the streets of Tijuana, with vehicles being set ablaze and gunmen. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador addressed last weeks violence during a pre-scheduled visit to Tijuana Friday. A member of the National Guard stands watch over the Gran Tenochtitlan neighborhood of Tijuana. Now there is another battle. The fact that a cartel was able to bring Tijuana to a standstill by burning a few buses and blocking off roads makes the government look weak, experts said. ", "I think there's a concern that rather than developing civilian institutions that are devoted to law enforcement, we're seeing increasingly the armed forces getting more duties.". Yet Farfn-Mndez questioned whether increased military force was the answer, and she pushed back against the focus on cartels. In this case, the Sinaloa Cartel outweighed the falling Arellano-Felix Organization and gained control of the Tijuana/ San Diego route. That fight for Tijuana resulted in some of the deadliest years in the citys history. It's very clear and everyone knows it," Caballero said. Presumably one of the criminal groups of a coalition could win, Felbab-Brown said. Since at least 2017, a CJNG splinter group, calling itself the Nueva Plaza Cartel, has engaged in regular battles with the larger cartel. What's more, this model of sending in the National Guard might not do much to calm residents who are resigned to violence. The Tijuana Cartel failed in its goal of killing Guzman, but Guzman would be arrested in hiding in Guatemala, and he was accused of the murder of the cardinal. Run by the Arellano-Flix family, the Tijuana cartel are also one of the main players in Narcos: Mexico Season 3. . TheSinaloa-Tijuana war was a bloody gang war fought between the rival Sinaloa and Tijuana Mexican drug cartels in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Jalisco, Guerrero, Michoacan, and Oaxaca from 1989 to 1993 and from 2001 to 2002. He then sends Neto to the same prison as Palma to show the inmates who is truly in charge. Toya Sarno Jordan for NPR According to some reports,Faras lvarez even once allied himself with the CJNG as the large cartel moved into Michoacn. The Arellano Flix family has seven brothers: They also have four sisters, of whom Alicia and Enedina are most active in the cartel's affairs. At the end of season 3, the soldiers leave, and Benjamin comes back. Its members use social media and public spectacles of violence to terrorize communities into submission. The response today has a similar flavor to back then, as Tijuana is blanketed with military protection. Later, some split off further, leaving the CJNG for other groups, such as a CAF subgroup led by El Flaquito.