Sinaloa Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa, CDS, after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the Guzmán-Zambada Organization, the Federation, the Blood Alliance, or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, international organized crime syndicate based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering. It was established in Mexico during the late 1980s as one of a various number of subordinate "plazas" operating under a predecessor organization known as the Guadalajara Cartel. It is currently headed by Ismael Zambada García and is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, with operations in many world regions but primarily in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua. and presence in a number of other regions in Latin America as well as in cities across the U.S. The United States Intelligence Community generally considers the Sinaloa Cartel to be the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world, making it perhaps even more influential and capable than Pablo Escobar's infamous Medellín Cartel of Colombia was during its prime. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center and other sources within the U.S. the Sinaloa Cartel is primarily involved in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, cannabis and MDMA.

As of 2023, the Sinaloa Cartel remains Mexico's most dominant drug cartel. After the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and his son Ovidio Guzmán López in 2016 and 2019 respectively, the cartel is now headed by old-school leader Ismael Zambada García (aka El Mayo) and Guzmán's other sons, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán and Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar. The cartel has had an immeasurable impact on the War on Drugs, both international and local politics, as well as in popular culture.