The recently-published World Drug Report 2023 found that there were 22 million people who used cocaine in 2021, up from 21 million the previous year.
The cartel’s hitmen also regularly fed humans to their tigers, in some instances these victims were alive.
The powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, is led by a notorious kingpin known as El Mencho. With rumours circulating that he’s dead, the cartel faces a battle for survival.
Marco Antonio Paredes-Machado, who insists he was not a major player in the Sinaloa Cartel, is arguing that he was sent to this dangerous supermax prison as a “torturous” move to get him to talk about El Chapo.
Brazil’s deadly drug wars have actually been made worse by President Jair Bolsonaro and his attempts to curb the violence by throwing more guns into the mix.
Marixa Lemus has been dubbed Guatemala’s female ‘El Chapo’. She is also sometimes referred to as “La Patrona” – the female boss.
Dairo Antonio Usuga David, also known as ‘Otoniel’, is Colombia’s most-wanted drug trafficker. Sorry, was, because he’s now been detained by local security forces after escaping arrest for more than a decade.
Gunmen in Mexican special forces uniforms broke a cartel boss out of a prison located just miles from the American border.
Tourists on a Cancun beach, as well as vendors, came under attack from gunmen who arrived via jet ski and opened fire.
The fighting between cartels for control over certain territories has always been brutal, but in recent years, things have gone into a downward spiral of increasing violence.
For a long time, the war on drugs has relied on the ‘kingpin strategy’ – take out the big guns, and a syndicate will fall apart. That’s proving to be a flawed approach.
For the 800 000 residents of Culiacán, a city in northwestern Mexico, violence is an almost daily part of their lives.
El Chapo looks set to spend the rest of his life behind bars, which has created a gap in the cartel market. Enter El Mencho, who will do anything to win that battle.
After the Mexican government unleashed new measures to crack down on cartels and their drug trade, they started looking to alternative sources for income.
For a while El Chapo’s sons were living it up, posting on social media to taunt law enforcement, but things have gone south for 29-year-old Alfredo.
If you’re intrigued by the El Chapo escape (and we know you are) then here’s the video that takes you inside the prison and shows just how he managed to become a free man.