Mexican cartels seek to expand their share in the heroin and meth markets: DEA

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said that Mexican cartels “control drug trafficking across the Southwest Border and are moving to expand their share, particularly in the heroin and methamphetamine markets.”

In its report “United States: Areas of Influence of Major Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations” dated July 2015 and posted on its website, the DEA said that  “Mexican transnational criminal organizations pose the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States” and that "no other group is currently positioned to challenge them."

As of May 2015, the DEA identified the following cartels that operate cells within the United States: the Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Juárez Cartel, Knights Templar (Los Caballeros Templarios or LCT), Beltrán-Leyva Organization (BLO), Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación or CJNG), Los Zetas, and Las Moicas.

According to the DEA, the Sinaloa Cartel maintains the most significant presence in the United States.

“They are the dominant transnational criminal organization along the West Coast, through the Midwest, and into the Northeast. While CJNG’s presence appears limited to the West Coast, it is a cartel of significant concern, as it is quickly becoming one of the most powerful organizations in Mexico, and DEA projects its presence to grow in the United States over the next year. In contrast, Mexican cartels such as the Gulf, Juárez, and Los Zetas hold more significant influence closer to the Southwest Border,” the DEA said in its report.

It added that “the Beltrán-Leyva Organization, former transportation experts for the Sinaloa Cartel, is most active along the East Coast and is also responsible for the majority of heroin in the DEA Denver FD area of responsibility. Las Moicas is a Michoacán-based organization with former La Familia Michoacana links, but remains a regional supplier in California and operates on a smaller scale relative to other major Mexican transnational criminal organizations.”

“Since 2014, the Arellano-Félix Organization, the Knights Templar, and the Michoacán Family (La Familia Michoacán LFM) cartels have been severely disrupted, which subsequently led to the development of splinter groups, such as, “La Empresa Nueva” (New Business) and “Cartel Independiente de Michoacán” (Independent Cartel of Michoacán) representing the remnants of these organizations. In those areas of the United States still linked to the former Knights Templar organization, illicit drugs continue to be sourced to organizations from the Michoacán area,” the DEA concluded in its report.