Unaffected by COVID-19; Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG, remain the strongest says DEA

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In the report ‘National Assessment of the Drug Threat 2020’, the DEA presented the enormous presence that Mexican drug trafficking has in the United States and how it is growing more and more.

The Mexican drug cartels were not significantly impacted by the pandemic in terms of drug production and trafficking, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“The long-term operational prospects and capabilities of Mexico’s transnational criminal organizations (that is, the largest cartels in the country) were not significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to their drug trafficking and drug production activities. drugs, “said the DEA in the document ‘ National Assessment of the Drug Threat 2020 ‘, which was published this Tuesday.

The DEA stressed that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) used the pandemic to artificially inflate methamphetamine prices.

Both the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG possibly withheld shipments of methamphetamine that were destined for the United States, this in order to overexploit the demand for this drug and thus increase prices, the DEA indicated.

Despite the fact that at the beginning of the pandemic, Mexican organizations had difficulties obtaining chemicals for drug production, no significant long-term impacts have been observed for the cartels, according to the agency that belongs to the Government’s Department of Justice. from the United States.

Cartels dominate US market

Since at least 2019, the supply of fentanyl from Mexico has grown in the United States, while fentanyl from China has declined.

The DEA reported that the Mexican drug cartels are highly involved in the production of fentanyl. The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel appear to be increasing the production of this drug in wholesale quantities, both in powder and pill form.

The United States Government expects that in the near future Mexican criminal organizations will have the strongest presence in the United States fentanyl market, due to the increase in production capacities; to adaptations they have made to use fewer chemicals that have legal restrictions; and the complex logistical network of drug trafficking in the US.

As for heroin, despite the fact that consumption remains high in the US, it has stabilized and deaths from overdoses of this drug have fallen. However, Mexico remains the main source of supply to the US.

“Mexico is likely to remain the primary source of heroin shipped to the United States, and both Mexican white powdered and black tar heroin will continue to be the most prevalent types of heroin available in major US heroin markets. Heroin and fentanyl markets, which are already intertwined, will continue to grow as traffickers mix heroin with fentanyl to increase heroin supplies and maximize revenue. “

Mexican criminal organizations continue to be the leading producers and suppliers of the high-purity, low-cost methamphetamine available in the United States. Mexican TCOs regularly produce large quantities of methamphetamine, which has generated a significant supply of methamphetamine in the US market.

Like other drugs, Mexican cartels control cocaine trafficking in the United States, according to the DEA. “And it is expected to continue like this because no other group is well positioned to confront the organizations in Mexico.”

As for marijuana, Mexico’s continues to be the one with the largest foreign presence in the United States; however, in the US market, Mexican marijuana has been largely supplanted by locally produced marijuana.

In addition, due to the increase in demand for products derived from marijuana, criminal organizations in Mexico have begun to produce and distribute THC oil.

The Mexican cartels are expected to increase the quality of their marijuana to compete with that produced in the United States, the DEA mentions in the document.

Larger cartels

The DEA highlighted that the most powerful criminal drug trafficking organizations in Mexico are the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG.

“The two largest organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, show signs of expansion in Mexico, which shows their continued influence even compared to other transnational criminal organizations,” the US government agency said.

In total, the DEA identified 9 Mexican cartels as those most responsible for the impact of drug trafficking in the United States:

-Cártel de Sinaloa

-CJNG

-Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva

-Los Zetas y Cártel del Noreste (its most prominent faction)

-Guerreros Unidos

-Cártel del Golfo

-Cártel de Juárez y su fracción La Línea

-La Familia Michoacana

-Los Rojos

Source: elfinanciero.com.mx

Mexico Daily Post