Dark Consortium: The History of Drug Cartels from Colombia to Mexico | Gita Blog Sport
Gitablogsport.com - Drug cartels are clandestine alliances, essentially independent organizations established to suppress competition and control the production and distribution of illicit drugs.
According to Britannica, drug cartels have historically been highly organized, well-funded, efficient, and notoriously violent. Since the 1980s, they have dominated the global narcotics trade.
The Origins of Drug Cartels
The U.S. war on drugs began under President Richard Nixon's administration.
Following his 1968 presidential victory, Nixon declared drug abuse to be "public enemy number one."
Efforts to block the flow of illegal substances into the U.S. a primary market for narcotics became increasingly focused on restricting the production of marijuana and heroin abroad.
However, during the 1970s, the demand for cocaine in the United States surged, paving the way for the formation of the earliest drug cartels.
The Rise of Colombian Cartels
The Medellin Cartel was Colombia's first major drug syndicate. It originated in the mid-1970s when marijuana traffickers in Colombia began smuggling small amounts of cocaine into the U.S.
As the market grew, individuals from various walks of life got involved from respected ranchers to low-level criminals.
Demand soon prompted the expansion of operations beyond suitcase-level trafficking. The cartel bought private planes for transport, built advanced drug labs, and even acquired a Caribbean island for refueling aircraft.
Internal corruption, intense violence, and competition from the Cali Cartel ultimately led to the Medellin Cartel's collapse by the late 1980s. Its leader, Pablo Escobar, became one of the world’s most wanted men and was killed in a police shootout in 1993.
The Cali Cartel took a more refined, business-like approach. They reinvested drug profits into legitimate ventures and even assisted Colombian police and the U.S. DEA in tracking down Escobar.
Most Cali leaders were arrested in the 1990s, and the cartel largely disbanded in the following decade.
The Evolution of Mexican Cartels
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Mexico was primarily known as a supplier of marijuana. But as U.S. efforts disrupted South American drug routes, Mexico emerged as a major cocaine conduit.
The Tijuana Cartel, founded in the late 1980s by brothers Ramon and Benjamin Arellano Felix, became one of Mexico’s most powerful. They were responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine to the U.S.
However, they faced fierce competition from rival groups most notably the Juarez, Gulf, and Sinaloa cartels.
Under Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán’s leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel rose to become the most dominant drug syndicate globally in the early 21st century, controlling the bulk of narcotics flowing into the U.S.
Sinaloa built its power through murder, bribery, and innovative smuggling techniques, especially underground tunnels.
By the early 2000s, the Mexican government, supported by U.S. agencies, escalated its crackdown on cartels, imprisoning many top leaders. However, the resulting turf wars triggered an unprecedented wave of violence across Mexico.