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The “super cartel” that controlled drug trafficking between Sonora and Arizona

Imagine drug traffickers like el chapo Guzmán, the brothers Caro Quintero, the Queen of the Pacific, the Salazar Ramírez and the May Zambada, among others, in a single criminal organization it would seem impossible.

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Nevertheless, the unions between drug cartels have occurred in Mexico, as was the case of the so-called Federation, the alliance of Mexican drug traffickers of the old guard, such as Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, Joaquín el chapo Guzmán Loera, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, Juan José the blue Esparragosa and Ismael the May Zambada, which saw its origin after the first leak by Guzmán Loera from prison, in 2001, to defend himself against the aggressiveness of other cartels, specifically the Arellano Félix brothers, who controlled the Tijuana plaza, on the border with the United States.

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DEA reports indicate that The Federation came to control the movement of more than half of the cocaine that transits from Mexican territory to the United States. However, the alliance was broken.

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After this breakup a new alliance emerged, known as the “super cartel”, as he relates in his book The awkward cartel the writer José Reveles.

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This alliance was agreed in the state of Sinaloa to control the Sonora (Mexico) -Arizona (USA) corridor.

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The structure was made up of brothers Alfredo, Amberto and Carlos Beltrán Leyva, known as “the three gentlemen”, as well as the Salazar Ramírez family, which currently remains as one of the cells of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Salomón Benítez, Graduate.

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Was also the Colombian Juan Diego Espinoza Ramírez, Tiger, and his then partner, Sandra Ávila Beltrán, the Queen of the Pacific. In addition, they were accompanied by the Caro Quintero brothers, despite the fact that Rafael had been in jail since the 1980s, and Jesús Enrique Salazar Villa, then considered by the United States as the head of the cocaine transfer between Chihuahua and Sonora.

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In this alliance, according to the writer, Ciudad Obregón, in Sonora, occupied an important place, since it was known as the Culiacancito -a diminutive of the capital of Sinaloa- having become a hiding place for different Sinaloa drug traffickers such as Rafael Caro Quintero and Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, before being arrested for the murder of former DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar.

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“The Beltrán Leyva brothers strengthened their operations in marijuana planting in the so-called Cuadrilatero del Diablo, which make up the Sierra Madre region and which covers part of the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa and Sonora. The drug is allegedly transferred by the Álamos area (Sonora) destined for the state border, mainly Agua Prieta and Nogales, maintaining a network of burreros and minor drug traffickers to Sonoran territory.”, Indicates the text.

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“The Three Gentlemen” were in charge of introducing the drug to the United States through Velocity planes or by land through trucks that, according to the author, were escorted along dirt roads to the border by units of the Sonora State Judicial Police, which helped them detect Army checkpoints in time .

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The sowing of drugs and trafficking in the “super cartel” passed through different cities in Sonora, such as Cajeme, Hermosilo and Obregón, thanks to a physical structure and complicity that had begun to be woven since the 1990s.

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Nevertheless, the “super cartel” did not have a long life: the Beltrán Leyva broke with el chapo Guzmán, and the tiger Y the Queen of the Pacific They were detained and extradited to the United States, as was Miguel Caro Quintero.

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Although some have already served their sentences, such as Miguel Caro Quintero and Sandra Ávila Beltrán, and others are at large, such as Rafael Caro Quintero, little is known about them and if they continue to contact their former partners.

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The Queen of the Pacific assured The Guardian in a 2016 interview that she was retired from business. Rafer Caro Quintero the Narco of the Narcos, he assured from the underground that he was no longer engaged in drug trafficking, despite the fact that the United States Government has indicated it as part of the new structure of the Sinaloa Cartel.

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El Chapo Guzmán is serving a life sentence in ADX Florence prison, considered the most brutal in the United States, while the May Zambada is one of the most wanted drug traffickers on both sides of the border.

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