Cartels, Conspiracies, and Camarena

The short reign of La Familia Michoacana as a key Mexican cartel was distinguished by their rapid growth, violent nature, and "unique" leaders, including the bible carrying Nazario Moreno González, known as El Más Loco ("The Craziest One"), and José de Jesús Méndez Vargas alias El Chango ("The Monkey" or "The Ape"). La Familia long had a fractured power structure which, together with defections to...

The recent announcement by the Department of Justice of indictments in three federal courts of Los Chapitos and many of their associates was accompanied by significant detail on the Los Chapitos organization and the efforts of the DEA to infiltrate that organization.   In this Episode, we look at the indictments themselves, the statements of the DOJ, and the materials presented by the DEA detailin...

Led primarily by two former members of the Mexican special forces, Arturo Guzmán Decena and Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, designated Z-1 and Z-3, respectively, the Zetas started as the military wing of the Gulf Cartel and became a fierce cartel, driven by military tactics and ruthless aggression.  This Episode explores how, despite their miliary elements, internal fractionalization and external threa...

As part of our series analyzing the older Mexican cartels and, in particular, understanding their leaders, today we discuss Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who rose from being a mechanic in Matamoros to leader of the Guld Cartel.  While heading CDG, Cardenas Guillen was directly responsible for the creation of Los Zetas, as well as the territorial and operational growth of the Cartel.  He also made a curi...

The Beltran Leyva brothers rose to a prominent role in the Sinaloa Cartel together with their long-time "friend" El Chapo, then splintered from the CDS, formed an alliance with Los Zetas, only to be decimated by arrests and killings.  In this Episode, we examine the life of Alfredo Beltran Leyva in order to understand the BLO and to identify the reasons behind their blood feud with El Chapo.  We a...

Jesús Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, "El Guero" Palma, has led a tragic and violent life that has seen him rise from an impoverished childhood, to being a main cog in Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo's operation, to being a partner and friend of El Chapo Guzman.  Along the way, El Guero lost his wife and sons to the violent ways of cartels, he was responsible for numerous killings, and has spent decades in...

The mythos of CIA involvement in the Camarena case warrants additional consideration and a renewed rebuttal.  In this Episode, we set the stage for such reconsideration by reviewing CIA blacks ops, including public disclosures on black ops and a review of the CIA-backed Operation Gladio.  We then turn our attention to allegations of CIA involvement in drug trafficking around the globe, as well as...

The rise of cartels in Mexico has been the result of a number of factors, including anti-drug efforts by law enforcement around the world, the structure of the Mexican government, and the adaptive nature of the cartels and their leaders.  In this Episode, we use the "Organized Crime and Violence Special Report 2021" from the University of San Diego's Department of Political Science and Internation...

Dr. Alvarez Machain was a Guadalajara doctor who often provided medical services to drug traffickers, including Rafael Caro Quintero.  Following the murder of Agent Camarena, a warrant was issued for his arrest and, in April 1990, Dr. Machain was "abducted" from Guadalajara, flown to El Paso, arrested, and charged with crimes connected to Agent Camarena's murder.  Following Dr. Machain's arrest, h...

The Brooklyn-based trial of Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Secretary of Public Security of Mexico, has neared its conclusion. In this Episode, we look at the government's case, which was based primarily on the testimony of nine cooperating witnesses, and the defense arguments and tactics.  We also consider what the Garcia Luna case says about prosecutions of cartel members and their alleged associ...

Mexican cartels have been steadily expanding their operations beyond North and Central America, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.  In this Episode, we look at these expanded operations, their root causes, and the implications the growth could have on issues such as increased crime and terrorism.  Finally, we look at the impact of the cartels' global presence on anti-drug and counter-cart...

The fentanyl crisis continues to attract media and Congressional attention.  In this Episode, we look at the issue by first looking at the drug itself, its legal and illegal uses, and its manufacturing.  We then investigate China's distribution of precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, as well as Chinese money laundering operations that facilitate the production, manufacturing, an...

New and intriguing details of the January 5, 2023, arrest of Ovidio Guzman, one of Los Chapitos, the leaders of a prime faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, have continued to emerge both in the press and on social media.  In this Episode, we look at those new details and try to draw some conclusions as to what they mean for Los Chapitos, CDS as a whole, and the relationship between CDS and the Mexican g...

CJNG and CDS dominate the cartel landscape in Mexico today. But the two cartels operate in distinct ways and have very different strategies, economically and structurally.  In this Episode, we compare and contrast the operations of CDS and CJNG and identify key questions about the future of each cartel.  

In order to understand today's Mexican cartels and the cartel wars, it is critical to understand the (mostly) men and families that formed and lead the cartels of today and the past.  After looking at El Mencho and El Mayo, in this Episode we examine El Chapo's rise to power, his blood battles with the Tijuana Cartel and the BLO, and his arrest and extradition.  We then look at the ascension of so...

Ismael Zambada Garcia, or "El Mayo," has been a key leader of the Sinaloa Cartel since 1989, overseeing the Cartel's rise to being one of the most influential drug trafficking, criminal organizations in the world.  Despite his prominence, El Mayo has stayed in power for more than 3 decades by being a strategic thinker who has kept those in his organization happy and has given value to avoiding the...

CJNG has exploded into one of the largest and most successful Cartels in Mexico and is responsible for a significant portion of the drugs trafficked from Mexico into the US.  CJNG's rise to power, it's almost unmatched brutality, and its economic prowess all can be attributed to its unquestioned leader El Mencho.  Shockingly, the public information on El Mencho is minimal and filled with urban leg...

In June, the Congressional Research Service issued a report titled "Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations."  In this episode, we look at the key elements of the report, including its analysis of current Mexican cartels, their illicit activities, and their leadership.  We also discuss some of the drawbacks to or flaws in the report and how they affect policy considerations in b...

Steve Duncan is a retired Special Agent with the California Department of Justice where he spent years investigating the AFO on both sides of the border.  In this Episode, Steve shares his extensive knowledge and unique perspectives on the AFO, dispels oft repeated misinformation, and provides critical insight into this brutally prolific cartel and its leaders.

After a few reports of issues, here is a new version of Episode 35.

Over the last few months, many listeners have asked questions about Mexican cartels today, the Camarena case, and the traffickers in Guadalajara at the time of Agent Camarena's abduction.  In this episode, I answer some of the most popular questions, discussing the current turf battles in Mexico and the leadership of the cartels.  We also examine Agent Camarena's abduction and some of the key circ...

As our discussions move beyond just the Camarena case, listeners may not be familiar with the significant Mexican cartels or their most notorious leaders.  This Episode provides a high-level history of the cartel-system in Mexico, identifies the prominent cartels and their areas of influence in the U.S., and discusses the two most known and infamous leaders of Mexican cartels today -- El Mencho an...

The SEDENA hacked documents reviewed thus far have provided new insights into the extradition process between Mexico and the United States, including U.S. efforts to increase the number of extraditions from Mexico, and, specifically, its strong desire to have Caro Quintero extradited.  Also, the hacks provide clear evidence of Caro's involvement in drug trafficking following his release in 2013, i...

As time goes by, finding concrete facts relating to the Camarena case becomes more and more difficult.  In this episode, though, we look at testimony and statements from Godoy and Lopez regarding an alleged meeting at the Las Americas Hotel and a February 7 meeting where it is claimed Manuel Bartlett Diaz was present.  In contrast to the uncorroborated statements of Godoy and Lopez, we look for ve...

In a recent telephone conversation, Agent Berrellez made several assertions and asked me to look at them with an open mind, to which I agreed.  In this episode, we analyze those assertions seeking factual support and consistency.  In the end, our review leaves us questioning many of the contentions aired in "The Last Narc" and doubting the veracity of the witnesses relied upon by the prosecution,...