The Top 7 TCO’s (Transnational Criminal Organizations) in LATAM Part 2
Last week we wrote about the top TCO’s in Brazil and Colombia. To carry on with this topic, this week we’ll be giving information about the top criminal organizations in Mexico and Central America.
Cartel de Sinaloa – Mexico
Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua, the states that form the Golden Triangle, are the main area of operation of this group. Nevertheless, they also operate in other 21 Mexican states and in 50 countries according to an investigation carried out by the State Department.
Their main businesses are drug trafficking, kidnapping, extorsion and weapons smuggling. Although it has lost some of its power after the capture of “El Chao”, it is still a major player in the Latin American criminal scene. Less violent than other similar organizations in the country has helped it to be less notorious, but it gained presence with their operations to avoid El Chapo’s son arrest in 2019, showing a very weak Mexican government.
MS 13 – Mara Salvatrucha El Salvador
El Salvador is the main area of operations of this group that originated in Los Angeles, California back in the 80’s. They also operate in Guatemala, Honduras and the US. Investigations say they currently have around 70,000 members. Its rivalry with Barrio 18 has led El Salvador to have one of the highest murder rates in the world for several years.
Their main activities are money laundering, extorsion, murder by contract and drug trafficking. But the social impact they have among Salvadoran youngsters are what brings more concerns to the country’s society.
Barrio 18 – El Salvador
This criminal group has around 16,000 members and has its base of operations in El Salvador. Its activities cover the neighboring countries of Guatemala, Honduras and the US too.
Barrio 18 was formed by gangs in Los Angeles in the 80’s but the migratory reforms carried out by successive US governments ended with the massive deportation of gang members to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, where they regrouped and initiated their activities, being the main ones extorsion, murder by contract, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion – CJNG Mexico
This cartel has Guadalajara, Mexico’s second major city, as its base of operations. They originated as a meth producing organization around 2010. Nowadays their main activities are oil theft and drug trafficking. Their products have clients in 26 countries and they operate in other 20 Mexican states.
This is a very violent organization that has turned to weapons manufacturing to avoid depending on the US for the supply of this elements.