Sinaloa is considered Mexico鈥檚 most powerful drug trafficking organization, and its leader, Joaquin 鈥淓l Chapo鈥� Guzman, is the most wanted man in Mexico. The group鈥檚 domain stretches from the central west coast to the center north of the country (see map ), and it has steadily moved into the territory of other organizations. Its rivalry with the Ju谩rez cartel has been the cause of much of the violence in border town Ciudad Ju谩rez, which was the site of more than a quarter of the country鈥檚 total drug-related casualties in 2010.
As many other trafficking organizations have fragmented in recent years, Sinaloa has gained influence, according to an on Mexico鈥檚 drug war. Mr. Guzman gained influence himself as leaders of Sinaloa鈥檚 allies and internal factions took hits from Mexican President Felipe Calder贸n鈥檚 crackdown on the trafficking organizations.
A brother of the former leader of Beltr谩n Leyva Organization (BLO), a former ally of Sinaloa, accused Guzman of betraying BLO鈥檚 leaders to the government to minimize challenges to his leadership, according to STRATFOR, the global intelligence firm.
Sinaloa鈥檚 imperviousness to Calderon鈥檚 efforts have led the Mexican government to focus on taking down the smaller, weaker organizations and hoping that Sinaloa would act to reduce violence on their own since it hinders trafficking efforts.
