Mexican Drug Cartels Operating in at least 1,286 U.S. Cities

Written By: Kelly Holt  |  Posted: Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

            On April 13, All Headline News reported that the influence of Mexican drug cartels operating in U.S. cities is growing because cartel members are becoming residents. Roberta Jacobson, Deputy Secretary of State for Mexico and Canada, brought this information to a political forum in Washington, D.C., quoting a March 27 report from the Justice Department. The findings are also being widely disseminated in the Mexican media.

            The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) report, according to Jacobson, listed the cartels with the most influence in the U.S. as follows: the Sinaloa cartel, operating in 75 U.S. cities; the Gulf and Zetas cartels, both in 37 cities; the Juarez, in 33 cities; the Beltran Leyva Organization, in 30; La Familia, in 27; and Tijuana, in 21. This list contains the largest and most widely known cartels; the Zetas organization, comprised mostly of Mexican Army special forces soldiers, is considered to be one of the most vicious. The unnamed cities are all said to have seen a substantial increase in drug sales and violence.

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