The Sinaloa Cartel (CDS), one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, has built its power structure through family ties, strategic alliances, and its ability to adapt to changes in the national and international drug trafficking landscape.
Since its inception, family and cronyism have been the pillars that sustain the leadership of this group, allowing for an internal cohesion that has withstood attacks from both rivals and authorities.
Furthermore, the Sinaloa Cartel, based in the state of the same name in northwestern Mexico, has demonstrated a unique ability to forge temporary alliances with local groups, which has allowed it access to key territories in different regions of the country, but this has also been a source of conflict.
After the split with the Beltrán Leyva cartel, the organization opted to establish agreements with former enemies, such as the Gulf Cartel and La Familia Michoacana. These alliances, far from being permanent, respond to tactical needs and the changing dynamics of organized crime in Mexico.
There are even indications that the Sinaloa Cartel negotiated a pact with the Tijuana Cartel, another historical player in drug trafficking on the northern border. But the alliance strategy is not limited to the criminal sphere.
According to InsightCrime, a foundation that investigates national security threats, in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Sinaloa Cartel has followed the example of Colombia’s Cali Cartel, establishing strong connections with Mexico’s political and economic elite.
This network of contacts has facilitated the organization’s penetration into the government and security forces, giving it a significant advantage over its competitors. Unlike other groups that favor armed confrontation, the Sinaloa Cartel typically prefers bribery over violence and alliances over open battles.
However, the organization has not hesitated to resort to extreme violence when it deems it necessary to invade and control new areas of operation.
In the current scenario, the Sinaloa Cartel’s main rival is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which has unleashed episodes of violence in various regions of the country in a fight for control of routes and markets.
However, the relationship between these two groups is not limited to confrontation. At certain stages of the drug supply chains, they have even collaborated, sharing suppliers of essential chemical precursors for the production of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
This occasional cooperation responds to the logic of the illicit business, where profit maximization can overcome circumstantial enmities.
Furthermore, the Sinaloa Cartel’s most influential ties were reportedly consolidated during the National Action Party (PAN) governments. This political context contributed to the group’s exponential growth during the 2000s and 2010s.
Cartel Infiltration into the Government
During the terms of former presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón, both of the PAN (National Action Party), multiple offensives were launched against trafficking organizations, resulting in the capture of high-profile leaders, such as Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, head of the Gulf Cartel, and Benjamín Arellano Félix, leader of the Tijuana Cartel.
However, the perception that the PAN favored the Sinaloa Cartel spread throughout Mexican society, to the point that, in 2010, party officials issued a statement denying any ties to the organization.
A year later, the Calderón administration released a video with a similar message, attempting to dispel suspicions. Despite these official denials, years later, some of these suspicions were substantiated by concrete facts following the arrest in the United States of Genaro García Luna, who was Mexico’s Secretary of Public Security during the Calderón administration.
During his trial in New York, several drug traffickers testified that they had bribed the former official with millions of dollars in exchange for protection, revealing the depth of the Sinaloa Cartel’s infiltration into state structures and the magnitude of the resources the organization was willing to invest to ensure their impunity.
Source: infobae
