Unprecedented Drug Seizures in Mexico City Point to Major Cartel Presence

“MX” for Borderland Beat

According to a map released by the Mexico City Police, there are twelve criminal groups operating in the metropolitan area. They carry out homicides, extortions (including protection racketeering), and drug dealing in 16 boroughs.

Despite the fact that they are considered the main drivers of violence in the city, the metropolitan police does not link them to the larger criminal groups operating across Mexico, like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

The presence of these two groups in Mexico City, however, can be proven by several historic drug seizures reported in the area in the last three weeks.

Background

On February 4, something never seen before occurred in Mexico City: a police-military operation in the Coapa area led to the seizure of 803 kilos of cocaine that two people from Sinaloa.

The seizure was a blow to the Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico City Police chief Omar García Harfuch told reporters. The official has acknowledged that the CJNG also operates in the city, which he pointed to as the author of the attack he suffered on June 26, 2020 in the Lomas de Chapultepec. The assassination attempt was aan unprecedented act in the city.

The presence of large cartels in Mexico City dates back prior to the year 2000. In a short time, the capital became the place of residence for its operators and the headquarters for their financial transactions.

But the quantities of drugs recently seized by local and federal police authorities ratify the dimension of the direct and large-scale incursion of drug trafficking in the Mexico City market.

However, the Mexico Cit Police does not establish a specific link between the drug cartels and the criminal groups that it has identified as being native to the area, according to a map revealed by the police this week.

Unprecedented Drug Seizure

On the afternoon of February 4, the tranquility of the Coapa in Tlalpan municipality was interrupted when dozens of police officers from metropolitan police, the Attorney General’s Office of Mexico City, and members of the Defense Secretariat Nacional surrounded a building.

With a search warrant in hand, they entered and found two men from Sinaloa in possession of 803 kilograms of cocaine hidden in two luxury cars, as well as 15 firearms.

With an approximate value of 11 million dollars, it was the largest seizure of that drug in Mexico City. This incident and other seizures that followed were reported by Borderland Beat.

Last year, Borderland Beat published a report identifying at least 40 criminal groups in the area. Many of these criminal groups are linked ot the 12 identified in the map presented above.

Source: Proceso; Borderland Beat archives