The Secretary of the Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación, SEGOB) issued a press release reporting on the progress the government has made in fighting drug trafficking organizations. The report also said this was in response to allegations that the federal government was targeting cartels unevenly, with a special emphasis in Sinaloa. It stated that the government has fought all drug trafficking organizations evenly and any heightened efforts in Sinaloa are due to a special operation beginning in 2008. This was at the request of various local authorities to address a particularly high number of homicides. According to the report, since December of 2006 through the end of January 2010, the federal government has arrested over 70,000 people associated with a criminal organization for “crimes against health” (delitos contra la salud).
These crimes include drug trafficking, drug production, arms trafficking, and money laundering. Of those arrested, Gulf-Zetas Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel (also known as the Pacific Cartel and headed by Joaquín Guzmán Loera) each constitute about one-fourth of the total. About one-sixth are from the Juárez Cartel (headed by the Carrillo Fuentes family), 14% from the Beltran Leyva Cartel, 13% from the Tijuana Cartel (headed by the Arellano-Félix family), and the rest come from various other criminal organizations. The report also went on to list captured cartel leaders, illegal financial operations that have been shutdown, and quantities of drugs found as part of the federal government’s efforts against organized crime.
Sources:
Mexico. Press release No.075-24/02/2010. Secretaría de Gobernación. Febrero 24, 2010.
