A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the illegal drug trade and maintaining prices at a high level. The formations of drug cartels are common in Latin American countries.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=
Template:Fix
}} Rivalries between multiple drug cartels cause them to wage turf wars against each other. Drug cartels often transport both drugs and narcotics, and most often the term "Narcotics cartel" is not used to describe an organization that transports the latter legally defined set of illegal substances, such as marijuana.
The basic structure of a drug cartel is as follows:
Falcons
Considered as the "eyes and ears" of the streets, the "falcons" are the lowest rank in any drug cartel. They are scouts, who are responsible for conducting reconnaissance, such as reporting the activities of the police, the military and rival groups.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Hitmen
The armed group within the drug cartel, responsible for carrying out assassinations, kidnappings, thefts and extortions, operating protection rackets, as well as defending their plaza (turf) from rival groups and the military.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Lieutenants
The second highest position in the drug cartel organization, responsible for supervising the hitmen and falcons within their own territory. They are allowed to carry out low-profile murders without permission from their bosses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Drug lords
Drug lords are the highest position in any drug cartel, responsible for supervising the entire drug industry, appointing territorial leaders, making alliances, in addition to planning high-profile murders.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Punjabi Mafia ਜੌਹਲ ਗਿਰੋਹ (Canada)<ref name="canada">Schneider, Stephen (2009) Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, John Wiley and Sons, Template:ISBN</ref>
Mexican cartels (also known in Mexico as: la Mafia (the mafia or the mob), La Maña (the skill / the bad manners),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> narcotraficantes (narco-traffickers), or simply as narcos usually refers to several, rival, criminal organizations that are combated by the Mexican government in the Mexican War on Drugs (List sorted by branches and heritage):<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Mexican academic Oswaldo Zavala, in his book Drug Cartels Do Not Exist, argues that academics, officials, journalists and writers are mistaken to label the criminal gangs as cartels, noting that they do not meet the definition due to the competitive nature of the drugs trade, and the lack of hierarchal structure. He states that the Mexican state perpetuates the label to justify their militarised response.<ref name=":0">ANÍBAL GÓMEZ, O. Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narco-Trafficking and Culture in the US and Mexico. Chasqui (01458973), [s. l.], v. 51, n. 2, pp. R29–R31, 2022. Disponível em: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=159559885&site=eds-live&scope=site . Accessed: 6 June 2023.</ref>
According to some observers in 2010, Los Zetas instituted social media demonstrations of torture and sadism in their reprisals which changed the rules of the game among the Mexican cartels.<ref>Grayson, George W. THE EVOLUTION OF LOS ZETAS IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA: SADISM AS AN INSTRUMENT OF CARTEL WARFARE. Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, 2014. Template:JSTORRetrieved 5 Feb. 2025.</ref> The level of violence and social instability greatly increased during the presidency of Felipe Calderon.<ref>Wax-Edwards, Jessica. “Introduction.” Documenting Violence in Calderón’s Mexico: Visual Culture, Resistance and Memorialisation, Boydell & Brewer, 2023, pp. 1–8. {{#invoke:CS1 identifiers|main|_template=doi}} Retrieved 5 February 2025.</ref> The Calderon and Foxe administrations worked closer with American law enforcement and utilized the military forces which led to some confusion among local law enforcement in public security and a variety of human rights abuses and corruption.<ref>YADAV, SUHASINI. “Mexican Drug Cartelisation: THE LONG WAR AND ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES (2000–2016).” World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues, vol. 26, no. 2, 2022, pp. 40–59. Template:JSTOR Retrieved 5 Feb. 2025.</ref>
The former head of Mexican law enforcement, Genaro García Luna, was sentenced in the Eastern District of New York on October 16, 2024 for his role in Sinaloa Cartel associated drug trafficking in the United States.<ref>United States Attorney's Office. (16 October 2024). "Press Release:Ex-Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna Sentenced to Over 38 Years' Imprisonment". U.S. Attorney's Office website Retrieved 5 February 2025.</ref>
Note: As of 2020 the DEA considered the cartels of Sinaloa, Jalisco and Golfo-Noreste-Zetas to be the most influential cartels in Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The United States of America is the world's largest consumer of cocaine<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Shelton Brothers Gang<ref name="sifakis"/><ref name="birger">Angle, Paul M (2991) Bloody Williamson: A Chapter in American Lawlessness, University of Illinois Press, Template:ISBN</ref>
Italian immigrants to the United States in the early 19th century formed various small-time gangs which gradually evolved into sophisticated crime syndicates which dominated organized crime in America for several decades. Although government crackdowns and a less-tightly knit Italian-American community have largely reduced their power, they remain an active force in the underworld.
The Chicago Outfit<ref name="traffic"/><ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="whitecollar"/><ref name="idiot"/><ref name="detroit"/> (see also Unione Siciliane)
Murder, Inc.<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="jew">Rockaway, Robert A (2000) But he was good to his mother: the lives and crimes of Jewish gangsters, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Template:ISBN</ref>
Black Mafia<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="harlem">Chepesiuk, Ron (2007) Gangsters of Harlem: the gritty underworld of New York City's most famous neighborhood, Barricade Books, Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="bet"/>
North Side Gang<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="sifakis"/><ref name="paddy">English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005, Template:ISBN</ref>
Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine in the world,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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According to the United Nations, there has been an increase of cocaine trafficking through Venezuela since 2002.<ref>El Universal, 24 February 2008, Aumenta narcotráfico por VenezuelaTemplate:Webarchive</ref> In 2005, Venezuela severed ties with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), accusing its representatives of spying.<ref name=NYT2012>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the departure of the DEA from Venezuela and the expansion of DEA's partnership with Colombia in 2005, Venezuela became more attractive to drug traffickers.<ref name=VICEdrugs>Template:Cite news</ref> Between 2008 and 2012, Venezuela's cocaine seizure ranking among other countries declined, going from being ranked fourth in the world for cocaine seizures in 2008<ref name="unodc.org">United Nations, World Drug Report 2010 Statistical Annex: Drug seizuresTemplate:Webarchive</ref> to sixth in the world in 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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The cartel groups involved include:
The Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan moved to Venezuela,<ref name=roth>Tom Blickman (1997), "The Rothschilds of the Mafia on ArubaTemplate:Webarchive", Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997</ref> which became an important hideout as the clan bought hotels and founded various businesses in Caracas and Valencia, as well as an extended ranch in Barinas, near the Colombian border. "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory," according to the Italian police. "The structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela." The Cuntrera-Caruana clan had direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra.<ref name=roth/>
Pasquale, Paolo and Gaspare Cuntrera were expelled from Venezuela in 1992, "almost secretly smuggled out of the country, as if it concerned one of their own drug transports. It was
imperative they could not contact people on the outside who could have used their political connections to stop the expulsion." Their expulsion was ordered by a commission of the Venezuelan Senate headed by Senator Cristobal Fernandez Dalo and his money laundering investigator, Thor Halvorssen Hellum. They were arrested in September 1992 at Fiumicino airport (Rome),<ref name="Fonzi">Fonzi, Gaeton. "The TroublemakerTemplate:Webarchive". The Pennsylvania Gazette (November 1994).</ref><ref>Presumed Guilty, by Isabel Hilton, Gentlemen's Quarterly (GQ), July 1994 (UK edition)</ref> and in 1996 were sentenced to 13–20 years.<ref name=roth/>
In May 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported from United States officials that drug trafficking in Venezuela increased significantly with Colombian drug traffickers moving from Colombia to Venezuela due to pressure from law enforcement.<ref name=SUNwsj>Template:Cite news</ref> One United States Department of Justice official described the higher ranks of the Venezuelan government and military as "a criminal organization", with high ranking Venezuelan officials, such as National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, being accused of drug trafficking.<ref name=SUNwsj/> Those involved with investigations stated that Venezuelan government defectors and former traffickers had given information to investigators and that details of those involved in government drug trafficking were increasing.<ref name=SUNwsj/>
The yakuza of Japan are similar to the Italian mafias in that they originated centuries ago and follow a rigid set of traditions, but have several aspects that make them unique, such as their full-body tattoos and their fairly open place in Japanese society. Many yakuza groups are umbrella organizations, smaller gangs reporting to a larger crime syndicate.
Active yakuza groups
Roku-daime Yamaguchi-gumi 六代目山口組<ref name="traffic"/><ref name="mcmafia"/><ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="yakuza">Kaplan, David E. & Dubro, Alec (2003) Yakuza: Japan's criminal underworld, University of California Press, Template:ISBN</ref>
The Triads is a popular name for a number of Chinese criminal secret societies, which have existed in various forms over the centuries (see for example Tiandihui). However, not all Chinese gangs fall into line with these traditional groups, as many non-traditional criminal organizations have formed, both in China and the Chinese diaspora.
Golden Triangle<ref name="traffic"/><ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="dea">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Khun Sa cartel<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="drugs">Chepesiuk, Ron (1999) The war on drugs: an international encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, Template:ISBN</ref> (see also Mong Tai Army)
Although organized crime existed in the Soviet era, the gangs really gained in power and international reach during the transition to capitalism. The term Russian Mafia, 'mafiya' or mob is a blanket (and somewhat inaccurate) term for the various organized crime groups that emerged in this period from the 15 former republics of the USSR and unlike their Italian counterparts does not mean members are necessarily of Russian ethnicity or uphold any ancient criminal traditions, although this is the case for some members.
Solntsevskaya bratva<ref name="traffic"/><ref name="mcmafia"/><ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="rusmafia">Varese, Frederico (2005) The Russian mafia: private protection in a new market economy, Oxford University Press, Template:ISBN</ref>
Tractions Avant gang<ref>Charles Bacelon, Max Clos, etc. Histoire du banditisme et des grandes affaires criminelles, Genève : éditions Famot, 1974. OCLC 77615747</ref>
Banda della Comasina<ref>Cristiano Armati, Italia criminale. Personaggi, fatti e avvenimenti di un'Italia violenta, Newton Compton Editori, 2006 Template:ISBN</ref>
Balkan organized crime gained prominence in the chaos following the communist era, notably the transition to capitalism and the wars in former Yugoslavia.
The Richardson Gang<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="morton">Morton, James Gangland Volume 2: The Underworld in Britain and Ireland, 1995, Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="villain"/>
The Firm<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="morton"/><ref name="villain"/>
Sabini syndicate<ref name="gangstersencyclopedia"/><ref name="morton"/><ref name="villain">Thomas, Donald (2006) Villains' paradise: a history of Britain's underworld, Pegasus Books, Template:ISBN</ref>
