Mexican cartels expand their presence in Colombia

In his report, The contrasts of humanitarian realityThe Office of the Ombudsman, an agency of the Colombian Ministry of Public Prosecution, highlights the presence and areas of operation of three of the strongest Mexican drug cartels: the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel.

“In Colombia (…) there is infiltration by many international cartels,” Daniel Adler, an Argentine specialist in security and urban counterterrorism, told Dialogue on July 18. “Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine in the world. Logistically, it also has a window: it borders Ecuador, where there is little governance, and because of its location, it serves as a platform for the export of alkaloids to America and Europe.”

According to the Ombudsman’s Office investigation, these criminal groups are mainly embedded in the Atlantic areas. The Zetas are spread throughout the province of Cali; the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is present on the Caribbean coast; and the Sinaloa Cartel is present in the province of Cali, Barranquilla and the Caribbean.

The latter is considered the most dangerous due to the various networks around the world for the transport of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and, recently, fentanyl, Argentine news site Information reported on June 6.

“Illegal armed groups primarily benefit from drug trafficking, as the region is a major route for smuggling drugs to international markets,” the report states. “In addition, extortion of traffickers, transporters, and the general civilian population is a common source of financing in the area, as is involvement in illicit activities such as illegal mining and deforestation for the exploitation of natural resources.”

These Mexican criminal groups benefit from the illegal profits they obtain from drug trafficking, in addition to other criminal methods they use through a complex network of local gangs, Colombian media reported. RCN News reported.

“The payments from these macro gangs to the 26 local Colombian gangs are in the form of weapons, drugs or legal merchandise, which they sell and use to launder money,” Adler said.

The National Police and the Colombian Public Prosecutor’s Office have determined that the Sinaloa cartel uses bags to move drugs. According to the investigation, which began in 2022, artisanal divers transport the drugs under the hulls of ships, where other divers put them in bags made of strong material. When surveillance decreases, they pull them out of the water with ropes to hoist them to the containers, Mexican media The Yucatan Diary reported.

Mario Luis Fuentes, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Development Studies Program, told the press on July 13 that “continuing to think of organized crime as a phenomenon specific to national territories is a perception and public policy error.” “What is urgent is to establish new cooperation mechanisms to standardize legislation, share information and intelligence securely, develop more effective fiscal strategies for control and sanctions, and, through shared strategies, reduce the use of drugs and weapons and contain and eradicate crimes such as human trafficking.”

There are indications that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are collaborating with Colombian criminal groups to smuggle synthetic drugs into Europe. Information reported on July 17.

“The situation is quite unusual, as dealers in our country normally export cocaine; but sending methamphetamines to Asia is a completely new business,” a narcotics agent told the newspaper The Colombian on July 14. “The Colombians have a monopoly on cocaine production, but we know they also want to gain space in the markets for methamphetamine, heroin and scary marijuana. Unfortunately, there is a belief among foreign consumers that Colombian drugs are of high quality, so the narcos take advantage of that.”

Cocaine seizures in Colombia reached 443.9 tons of cocaine in the first half of 2024, an increase of 27 percent compared to the same period in 2023, according to a report from the Ministry of Defense, reports Colombian media outlet Blue radio reported on July 17.