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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox criminal organization
| name
| native_name
| native_name_lang
| image
| color = transparent
| border = 0
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| photo2a = Sinaloa Cartel presence.png
}}
| caption
| founded
| founders
| named_after
| founding_location = [[Culiacán]], [[Sinaloa]], México
| years_active
| territory
| title = List of areas
| bullets = on
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| 7 = Australia<ref>{{cite news|title=Mexican drug cartel infiltrates Australia|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/15/3011870.htm|newspaper=ABC|date=15 September 2010|access-date=3 October 2023|archive-date=8 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308025500/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/15/3011870.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Welch|first=Dylan|title=Police fear spread of Mexican drug cartel violence|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/police-fear-spread-of-mexican-drug-cartel-violence-20110101-19cme.html|newspaper=The Age|date=2 January 2011|location=Melbourne|access-date=3 October 2023|archive-date=21 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721111442/https://www.theage.com.au/national/police-fear-spread-of-mexican-drug-cartel-violence-20110101-19cme.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
| ethnicity
| membership
| leaders
| activities
| allies
| rivals
| notable_members
}}
The '''Sinaloa Cartel''' ({{
The cartel's history is marked by evolution from a small crime syndicate to one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world. Founded in the late 1960s by [[Pedro Avilés Pérez]] in Sinaloa, the cartel initially focused on smuggling [[marijuana]] into the [[United States]] (US). Pérez is credited with pioneering the use of aircraft for [[drug smuggling]], laying the groundwork for large-scale trafficking operations. His organization was a training ground for the second generation of Sinaloan traffickers.
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The [[Guadalajara Cartel]] was co-founded by Félix Gallardo between 1978 and 1980, marking the next phase in the cartel's history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insightcrime.org/mexico-organized-crime-news/sinaloa-cartel-profile|title=Sinaloa Cartel|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=8 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808112427/https://www.insightcrime.org/mexico-organized-crime-news/sinaloa-cartel-profile/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-are-sinaloa-cartel-worlds-most-powerful-gangsters-1465574|title=Why are the Sinaloa Cartel the World's Most Powerful Gangsters?|work=International Business Times UK|date=16 September 2014|access-date=12 July 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304130732/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-are-sinaloa-cartel-worlds-most-powerful-gangsters-1465574|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LastNarco" /> Under Gallardo's leadership, the cartel controlled much of Mexico's drug trafficking corridors along the US border throughout the 1980s. Following Gallardo's arrest in 1989, the cartel splintered into smaller organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Sinaloa Cartel, under the leadership of figures like [[Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
As of
==History==
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Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, who co-founded the [[Guadalajara Cartel]] between 1978 and 1980, from then on; controlled much of Mexico's drug-trafficking corridors along the United States border throughout the 1980s, only to be rivaled by the [[Gulf Cartel]] which controlled some of eastern Mexico's drug trade.<ref name="Shannon, Elaine 1988">Shannon, Elaine (1988). Desperados: Latin drug lords, U.S. lawmen, and the war America can't win. New York: Viking. {{ISBN|978-0-670-81026-0}}.</ref><ref name=NYTimes>{{cite news | first=Larry | last=Rohter | title=In Mexico, Drug Roots Run Deep | date=April 16, 1989 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/16/world/in-mexico-drug-roots-run-deep.html?pagewanted=1 | work=The New York Times | access-date=2010-09-21 | archive-date=26 June 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626194024/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/16/world/in-mexico-drug-roots-run-deep.html?pagewanted=1 | url-status=live }}</ref> Félix Gallardo divided up his "Federation" by 1987, just two years after the capture and murder of [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] agent [[Enrique Camarena Salazar]] when the threat from American law enforcement became much more pressing. This division of the organization in the late 1980s led to the cartel essentially being made up of several smaller cartels who controlled their own territories and trafficking corridors with their own bosses. This would make it less likely the whole organization would be brought down all at once. One of these cartels (called plazas at the time) was Sinaloa, with the city of [[Culiacán]] acting as its headquarters.<ref name="Beith 2010">{{cite book |last1=Beith |first1=Malcolm |title=The Last Narco: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most Wanted Drug Lord |date=2010 |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8021-1952-0 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t4c4nwEACAAJ |access-date=15 May 2023 |language=en |chapter=The Godfather |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726170054/https://books.google.com/books?id=t4c4nwEACAAJ |url-status=live }} [https://archive.org/details/lastnarcoinsideh00beit Alt URL]</ref> In the late 1980s, the United States [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) believed the Sinaloa Cartel was the largest drug trafficking organization operating in Mexico.<ref name="CACourt">{{cite web |date=7 December 2007 |title=United States of America v. Felipe de Jesus Corona Verbera |publisher=United States Court of Appeals |page=3 |url=http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/coa/newopinions.nsf/CC8D42315C276B93882573AA004FEBC4/$file/0610538.pdf?openelement |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20150307194106/http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/coa/newopinions.nsf/CC8D42315C276B93882573AA004FEBC4/$file/0610538.pdf?openelement |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 March 2015 |access-date=11 April 2008 }}</ref>
Gallardo was eventually arrested in 1989 and, while incarcerated, he remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining contact with his organization via mobile phone until he was transferred to a new maximum security prison in the early 1990s. At that point his nephews, the Arellano Félix brothers, left and further solidified the organization which came to be known as the [[Tijuana Cartel]], while the Sinaloa Cartel continued to be run by former lieutenants [[Héctor Luis Palma Salazar]], [[
===''El Mayo'' and the Tijuana Cartel war===
During this time, Sinaloa was considered to be at a major disadvantage since they were forced to move much of their drug product through the [[Tijuana]] corridor, which often put them directly into conflict with the Arellanos. This eventually led to [[Ramón Arellano Félix]] killing two of Guzmán's associates thus leading to a full-fledged war between the two organizations. It was around this period in the early 1990s when Guzmán
Zambada also helped [[Amado Carrillo Fuentes]] expand the [[Juárez Cartel]] in the state of Chihuahua and helped incorporate some of the remnants of the Juárez Cartel into the Sinaloa Cartel after Carrillo's death in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shamsian |first=Jacob |title=Here's the story behind 'El Mayo' Zambada, the man El Chapo says was the real boss behind the Sinaloa Cartel |url=https://www.insider.com/el-mayo-zambada-sinaloa-cartel-boss-el-chapo-real-kingpin-2018-11 |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=8 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808020508/https://www.businessinsider.com/el-mayo-zambada-sinaloa-cartel-boss-el-chapo-real-kingpin-2018-11#he-consolidated-power-in-the-1990s-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Sinaloa Cartel was therefore believed to be linked to the Juárez Cartel in a strategic alliance following the partnership of their rivals, the Gulf Cartel and Tijuana Cartel.<ref name="Understanding" /><ref name="CACourt" /><ref name="ALine">{{cite web|last=McCaul |first=Michael T.|date=9 January 2008 |title=A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border |publisher=Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security |pages=12, 13 |url=http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328072915/http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf |archive-date=28 March 2008 }}</ref> Following the discovery of a tunnel system used to smuggle drugs across the [[United States–Mexico border|Mexican/US border]], the group has been associated with such means of trafficking.<ref name="Jaoquin" /><ref name="Chan5">{{cite news|url=http://www.newschannel5.tv/2008/3/28/988823/Sinaloa-Cartel-Leader-Possibly-Dead |title=Sinaloa Cartel Leader Possibly Dead |date=28 March 2008 |publisher=Newschannel 5 KRGV |access-date=11 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928043630/http://www.newschannel5.tv/2008/3/28/988823/Sinaloa-Cartel-Leader-Possibly-Dead |archive-date=28 September 2008 }}</ref> The war between the Sinaloa and Tijuana cartels was supposedly at its worst from 1992 to the year 2000 with family members of some of the cartel's leaders living in fear or "everyday like it was their last", as stated by Zambada's wife at the time. However, Zambada also used this conflict to his advantage since the Mexican government began to crackdown primarily on the Tijuana Cartel, ''Mayo'' used this weakening of his rivals as an opportunity for Sinaloa to step up in the trafficking world. By around the year 2000, Zambada became recognized as one of the biggest and most powerful [[drug lord]]s in Mexico, having built strong distribution networks from Colombia to the United States. ''Mayo's'' traditional major distribution hubs were allegedly in Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Denver. ''El Mayo'' was also reportedly the one who sent a private helicopter for ''El Chapo'' after he escaped Puente Grande prison in 2001.<ref>{{cite news |last1=DeGregory |first1=Priscilla |last2=Eustachewich |first2=Lia |title=Testimony reveals secrets of El Chapo's wild prison break |url=https://nypost.com/2018/11/15/testimony-reveals-secrets-of-el-chapos-wild-prison-break/ |access-date=17 May 2023 |work=New York Post |date=15 November 2018 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517052314/https://nypost.com/2018/11/15/testimony-reveals-secrets-of-el-chapos-wild-prison-break/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Sinaloa Cartel was partially splintered in 2008 when the [[Beltrán-Leyva Cartel|Beltrán-Leyva brothers]] broke apart from the cartel.<ref name="LastNarco"/>
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When Héctor Luis Palma Salazar was arrested on 23 June 1995, by the Mexican Army, his partner Joaquín Guzmán Loera took leadership of the cartel.<ref name="Organized" /><ref name="Bordering">{{cite book|last=Oppenheimer|first=Andres|title=Bordering on Chaos: Guerrillas, Stockbrokers, Politicians, and Mexico's Road to Prosperity|publisher=Little Brown & Co|year=1996|pages=298, 202, 300|isbn=0-316-65095-1}}</ref> Guzmán was captured in Guatemala on 9 June 1993, and extradited to Mexico, where he was jailed in a maximum security prison, but on 19 January 2001, Guzmán escaped and resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Guzmán
Guzmán was captured on 22 February 2014, overnight by American and Mexican authorities. On 11 July 2015, he escaped from the Federal Social Readaption Center No. 1, a maximum-security prison in the State of Mexico, through a tunnel in his prison cell. Guzmán resumed his command of the Sinaloa Cartel, but on 8 January 2016, Guzmán was captured again during a raid on a home in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzmán's home state of Sinaloa.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/world/americas/El-Chapo-captured-mexico.html|title=El Chapo, Escaped Mexican Drug Lord, Is Recaptured in Gun Battle|date=9 January 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410054117/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/world/americas/El-Chapo-captured-mexico.html|url-status=live}}</ref> With the arrest of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Ismael Zambada has assumed
On 24 June 2020, Zambada was revealed to be "sick with [[diabetes]]",
At the time of his arrest on 5 January 2023, ''El Chapo'' son [[Ovidio Guzmán]] was believed to be the leader of the cartel's Chapitos faction.<ref name="Associated Press"/> On September 15, 2023, Ovidio would be extradited to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-16 |title=US: Mexico extradites Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Sinaloa cartel leader 'El Chapo,' to United States |url=https://apnews.com/article/el-chapo-mexico-united-states-sinaloa-9239796fda8db9cfa09fd65b139032cd |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=8 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808020500/https://apnews.com/article/el-chapo-mexico-united-states-sinaloa-9239796fda8db9cfa09fd65b139032cd |url-status=live }}</ref>
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==Operations==
▲The Sinaloa Cartel has a presence in at least 22 of the 31 Mexican states, with important centers in [[Mexico City]], [[Tepic]], [[Toluca]], [[Zacatecas]], [[Guadalajara]] and most of the state of Sinaloa.<ref name="crsreport"/>{{Update inline|date= February 2023}} The Sinaloa Cartel has historically operated in the "Golden Triangle", the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua. The region is a major producer of Mexican [[opium]] and [[marijuana]].<ref name="LastNarco" /> In this region, black tar heroin has often been referred to as the "black goat".<ref name="nationalgeographic_vdka21301209">{{cite web |date=17 December 2020 |title=Narco Wars {{!}} Mexico's First Cartel Online |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/narco-wars/episode-guide/season-01/episode-02-mexicos-first-cartel/vdka21382360 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517052312/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/narco-wars/episode-guide/season-01/episode-02-mexicos-first-cartel/vdka21382360 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |access-date=17 May 2023 |website=National Geographic |language=en |format=video}}</ref> Despite trafficking various types of [[Controlled substance|illicit substances]], the cartel's operations seem to mostly favor the trade of cocaine and [[opioids]], particularly in a distribution hub like [[Chicago]], where demand for methamphetamine is relatively low.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2019-11/PRB%20FINAL%20--%20DIR-004-20%20The%20Drug%20Situation%20in%20the%20Chicago%20Field%20Division.pdf|title= The Drug Situation in the Chicago Field Division|date= 11 November 2019|website= www.dea.gov|access-date= 15 December 2021|archive-date= 8 May 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210508084205/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2019-11/PRB%20FINAL%20--%20DIR-004-20%20The%20Drug%20Situation%20in%20the%20Chicago%20Field%20Division.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref> According to the [[U.S. Attorney General]], the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly {{convert|200|ST}} of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082001958.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331074421/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082001958.html|archive-date=31 March 2012|title=U.S. charges 10 accused Mexican drug cartel leaders|agency=Reuters|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=20 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, during the second wave of [[Opioid epidemic in the United States|America's opioid epidemic]] in the mid-2010s, which was driven largely by heroin; the prevalence and trafficking of fentanyl began to increase exponentially leading to the third wave and eventually turning into the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history.<ref name="nationalgeographic_vdka21301209" /> Additionally, around 2014 a measurable rise in Colombian cocaine production and global consumption began to increase annually up to the present, currently marking a new high-point for the global use of cocaine.<ref name="United Nations">{{cite news|url=https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2015/July/colombia-survey-2014_-unodc-study-shows-significant-increase-in-coca-leaf-production-in-high-density-areas.html|title=Colombia Survey 2014: UNODC study shows significant increase in coca leaf production in high density areas|date=2 July 2015|work=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime|access-date=23 November 2022|archive-date=23 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123223154/https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2015/July/colombia-survey-2014_-unodc-study-shows-significant-increase-in-coca-leaf-production-in-high-density-areas.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/10/22/658547337/colombia-is-growing-record-amounts-of-coca-the-key-ingredient-in-cocaine|title=Colombia Is Growing Record Amounts Of Coca, The Key Ingredient In Cocaine|date=22 October 2018|work=NPR|access-date=23 November 2022|archive-date=23 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123223155/https://www.npr.org/2018/10/22/658547337/colombia-is-growing-record-amounts-of-coca-the-key-ingredient-in-cocaine|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2019/07/06/cocaine-production-in-colombia-is-at-historic-highs|title=Cocaine production in Colombia is at historic highs|last=Uribe|first=Meta|date=6 July 2019|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=23 November 2022|archive-date=23 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123223155/https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2019/07/06/cocaine-production-in-colombia-is-at-historic-highs|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="InSightColombianCocaine">{{cite web|last=Posada|first=Juan Diego|title=Colombia's Cocaine Keeps On Reaching New Heights: UNODC Report|url=https://insightcrime.org/news/colombia-cocaine-keeps-reaching-new-heights-unodc/|website=InSight Crime|date=30 July 2021|access-date=28 December 2021|archive-date=28 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228044325/https://insightcrime.org/news/colombia-cocaine-keeps-reaching-new-heights-unodc/|url-status=live}}</ref> The cartel appears to still have major methamphetamine operations in cities throughout the U.S., such as in [[San Diego]] and [[Atlanta]].<ref name="auto2">{{cite news|title=60 Charged in San Diego-based Sinaloa Cartel Meth Investigation|url=http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2021/06/60-charged-in-san-diego-based-sinaloa.html?m=1|newspaper=[[Borderland Beat]]|date=30 June 2021|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209222653/http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2021/06/60-charged-in-san-diego-based-sinaloa.html?m=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NewsChannel3">{{cite web | title=Major multi-million meth bust alarms Atlanta DEA agents | date=2021-04-29 | url=https://kesq.com/news/2021/10/07/major-multi-million-meth-bust-alarms-atlanta-dea-agents | access-date=10 December 2021 | archive-date=10 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210204507/https://kesq.com/news/2021/10/07/major-multi-million-meth-bust-alarms-atlanta-dea-agents/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The CDS as well as other large Mexican cartels have set up major [[Cannabis cultivation|marijuana growing]] operations in the remote forests and [[deserts of California]].<ref name="ABC7 Los Angeles">{{cite web|title=Drug cartels stealing millions of gallons of water for marijuana grows in Antelope Valley: Officials|date=2021-07-07|url=https://abc7.com/marijuana-water-drug-cartels-pot/10866402/|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209042236/https://abc7.com/marijuana-water-drug-cartels-pot/10866402/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Nearly 7 Tons of Marijuana Seized f">{{cite news|title=Nearly 7 Tons of Marijuana Seized from Suspected Cartel Grow Sites in Monterey County, California|url=http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2021/07/nearly-7-tons-of-marijuana-seized-from.html?m=1|newspaper=[[Borderland Beat]]|date=23 July 2021|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209042236/http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2021/07/nearly-7-tons-of-marijuana-seized-from.html?m=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LA County's Largest Drug Bust in Hi">{{cite news|title=LA County's Largest Drug Bust in History Involves Suspected Mexican Cartels|url=http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2021/06/la-countys-largest-drug-bust-in-history.html?m=1|newspaper=[[Borderland Beat]]|date=11 June 2021|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209042245/http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2021/06/la-countys-largest-drug-bust-in-history.html?m=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Territory and presence===
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===Tijuana Airport/Drug Super Tunnels===
[[File:Drug Tunnel Corridors Otay Mesa San Diego.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{anchor|Image 1}}Image 1: Drug tunnel corridors Tijuana airport/Otay Mesa]]In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel dug its first [[Smuggling tunnel|drug tunnel]] between a house in Agua Prieta, Sonora to a warehouse located in [[Douglas, Arizona]]. The {{convert|300|ft}} tunnel was discovered in May 1990.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chapo's rise: From poor, abused to cartel kingpin|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/28/chapos-abused-cartel-kingpin/5906279/|access-date=21 November 2017|newspaper=USA Today|date=28 February 2014|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201201239/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/28/chapos-abused-cartel-kingpin/5906279/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="newyorker.com">{{cite magazine|last1=Reel|first1=Monte|title=Annals of Excavation: Underworld- How the Sinaloa Cartel digs its tunnels|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/03/underworld-monte-reel|access-date=19 November 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|date=3 August 2015|archive-date=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118052809/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/03/underworld-monte-reel|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the discovery by U.S. Customs and Mexican Federal Police, the Sinaloa Cartel began to focus their smuggling operations towards Tijuana and Otay Mesa, San Diego where it acquired a warehouse in 1992. After the assassination of Cardinal [[Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo]] and six others at the Guadalajara airport on 24 May 1993,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Majorie|title=Mexico Cardinal Slain; Caught in Gun Battle : Violence: 6 others are killed at Guadalajara airport. Rival narcotics traffickers are believed responsible.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-25-mn-39567-story.html|access-date=30 November 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=25 May 1993|archive-date=23 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223225319/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-25/news/mn-39567_1_gun-battle|url-status=live}}</ref> the gunmen boarded a commercial jet. When the jet landed at the Tijuana airport, both police and military units failed to cordon off the aircraft and the gunmen escaped.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rotella|first1=Sebastian|title=2 San Diego Suspects in Cardinal's Slaying Ordered Extradited|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-20-mn-40835-story.html|access-date=30 November 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=20 September 1994|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208052926/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-09-20/news/mn-40835_1_diego-street-gang-members|url-status=live}}</ref> On 31 May 1993, Mexican federal agents searching for the gunmen found a partially completed {{convert|1500|ft}} tunnel adjacent to the Tijuana airport and crossing under the U.S.-Mexico border to a warehouse on Otay Mesa in [[San Diego]]. It was discovered as Mexican and San Diego officials were discussing the creation of a cross-border airport between Tijuana and Otay Mesa which would have undermined the drug tunneling operations in the area (see [[History of the Cross Border Xpress]]). The tunnel was described by the DEA in San Diego as the "Taj Mahal" of drug tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border and was linked to Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán.<ref name="Taj Mahal of drug tunnels">{{cite news|last1=Rotella|first1=Sebastian|title=U.S. Seizes Land at Border Near Unfinished Drug Tunnel : Narcotics: Agents believe San Diego lot was the destination of passage from Mexico. Investigators are seeking a Tijuana businessman who owned the parcel.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-19-mn-4735-story.html|access-date=30 November 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=19 June 1993|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208045345/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-19/news/mn-4735_1_san-diego-lot|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Rotella|first1=Sebastian|title=DEA Couldn't Verify Tips on Drug Tunnel|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-04-mn-43306-story.html|access-date=9 October 2016|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=4 June 1993|archive-date=10 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010050203/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-04/news/mn-43306_1_drug-tunnel|url-status=live}}</ref> It was five times longer than the Agua Prieta-Douglas tunnel and became the first of a series of drug "super tunnels" in Otay Mesa originating in and around the Tijuana airport through the former Ejido Tampico. The "super tunnels" were equipped with power, ventilation and rail tracks to allow the efficient movement of large loads of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. As seen on [[#Image 1|image 1 Drug tunnel corridors]] the close proximity of the former Ejido Tampico to the Tijuana airport and U.S.-Mexico border made it an ideal staging area for smuggling operations into the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mosendz|first1=Polly|title=DRUG TUNNELS ALONG THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: HIGH COSTS, HIGH REWARDS|url=http://www.newsweek.com/us-mexico-border-drug-tunnel-costs-rewards-386978|access-date=9 October 2016|work=Newsweek|date=15 October 2015|archive-date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005021229/http://www.newsweek.com/us-mexico-border-drug-tunnel-costs-rewards-386978|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Border tunnels: Complete list of those found|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sdut-border-tunnels-2013oct31-htmlstory.html|access-date=9 October 2016|newspaper=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=31 October 2013|archive-date=10 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010045827/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sdut-border-tunnels-2013oct31-htmlstory.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Ejido Tampico 2000 to 2006 development.jpg|thumb|upright=1|{{Anchor|Image 2}}Image 2: Ejido Tampico comparison between 2000 and 2006]]The Mexican government's conflict with the former Ejido Tampico dated back to 1970, when they expropriated {{convert|320|ha|acre|abbr=off}} of the Ejido Tampico to build a new runway and passenger terminal at the Tijuana airport and agreed to pay the displaced ejidatarios (the communal farmers) $1.4 million pesos ($112,000 U.S. dollars in 1970). When the Mexican government failed to indemnify the ejidatarios for their lost farmland, they reoccupied a {{convert|79|ha|acre|abbr=off}} portion of the Tijuana airport and threatened armed conflict. As shown by [[#Image 2|image 2 Ejido Tampico]], from 1970 to 2000, the occupied land at the Tijuana airport remained relatively undeveloped. In 1999, the Tijuana airport was privatized and became part of a 12 airport network known as [[Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico]] (Pacific Airport Group). In an attempt to resolve the dispute and remove the ejidatarios from the privatized Tijuana airport, the Mexican government established a value on the expropriated {{convert|320|ha|acre|abbr=off}} at $1.2 million pesos ($125,560 U.S. dollars in 1999) while the ejidatarios of the former Ejido Tampico taking into account the increase in property values from 1970 to 1999 and the privatization of the Tijuana airport established a commercial value on their lost land at $2.8 billion pesos ($294 million U.S. dollars). In 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, who had promised to resolve the issue, also failed.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Perez U.|first1=Matilde|title=Ejidatarios exigen pago justo por tierra expropiada en BC- El aeropuerto internacional de Tijuana ocupa la superficie|url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2002/06/17/010n1pol.php?origen=politica.html|access-date=30 November 2015|newspaper=La Jornada|date=17 June 2002|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208094137/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2002/06/17/010n1pol.php?origen=politica.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As shown [[#Image 2|image 2 Ejido Tampico]] comparison between 2000 and 2006, the ejidatarios then proceeded to commercially develop the {{convert|79|ha|acre|abbr=off}} area at the Tijuana airport by leasing buildings and parcels to trucking and storage companies. As shown by [[#Image 3|image 3 Drug Trafficking Tunnel]], in 2006 the unpermitted development allowed the building of a {{convert|2400|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=off|sp=us}} drug "super tunnel" originating from the former Ejido Tampico and adjacent to the Tijuana airport's runway.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Public Affairs|first1=DEA|title=DEA/ICE Uncover "Massive" Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Cement lined passage thought to link warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa|url=http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr012606.html|access-date=7 December 2015|publisher=United States Drug Enforcement Administration|date=26 January 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210184304/http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr012606.html|archive-date=10 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> As prior drug tunnels, it crossed under the U.S.-Mexico border into a warehouse on Otay Mesa in San Diego with the capacity to move multi-ton loads of narcotics.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Marosi|first1=Richard|title=A Straight Shot Into ... Mexico'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-31-me-tunnel31-story.html|access-date=30 November 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=31 January 2006|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208075402/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/31/local/me-tunnel31|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Super tunnel Otay Mesa"/>
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[[Category:Sinaloa]]
[[Category:Transnational organized crime]]
[[Category:Gangs in Oklahoma]]
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