Two Mexican drug cartels, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, have caused the worst drug crisis in American history, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In the National Drug Threat Assessment 2024, the DEA asserts that the two cartels dictate the flow of nearly all illicit drugs into the US.
“Their dominance over the synthetic drug trade in particular is evident in the relentless stream of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine crossing the border toward US markets,” the report reads.
The report states that cartel members have established a presence in every US state, with more involvement in the southern states, along with Illinois, Colorado, New York, and Massachusetts.
Along with incredibly deadly amounts of fentanyl, the DEA says that the cartel is selling crystal methamphetamine that’s more potent and cheaper than at any other time in the past decade.
As Emily’s Hope reported last year, federal prosecutors have charged 28 members and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel, including sons of the former drug lord known as “El Chapo.” One of those sons, 33-year-old Ovidio Guzmán López, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year. The Justice Department has also pressed charges against several Chinese companies for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking, and the Treasury Department has sanctioned dozens of individuals and entities in China and Mexico. These sanctions effectively cut off their access to the U.S. financial system and prohibited any business transactions with them by American entities.