Why Doesn't The US Call Its Own Criminal Groups "Cartels"?

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat 

Video translation is as follows: 

Chapter 1 Introduction:

For years we've been told the same story: that drug trafficking comes from Latin America, crosses borders, and arrives in the United States as if it were just a victim of the problem. 

But what if it weren't that simple? What if, within that same country, there were organized criminal networks as profitable as any famous cartel? Today we're not going to talk about kingpins with extravagant nicknames or armored convoys crossing deserts. 

We're going to talk about something less visible, but just as real: drug traffickers born and raised in our neighboring country. Some with the appearance of businessmen, others dressed as bikers, moving tons of drugs without attracting attention. 

That's the story that rarely appears in movies and news reports, but it helps us understand why the fentanyl crisis isn't just an imported problem, but also an internal one. 

So stick around until the end because what you're about to discover shatters the traditional image of drug trafficking. And if you're interested in the topic, we'll tell you how it directly affects entire communities, even ordinary families.

Chapter 2: The Story of a PlayStation and the DEA. 

Let's start with a story straight out of a movie. According to court reports, in 2017 four DEA agents had spent months trying to dismantle a fentanyl trafficking network. The outlook seemed bleak; they only had a small group of street users in sight. 

But then something as trivial as a gift changed everything. A buyer received a Sony PlayStation, but the people keeping watch noticed something strange. The box was much heavier than expected. 

Upon opening it, they discovered 30 kg of an illicit substance with opioid characteristics, worth approximately 3 million Mexican pesos. This discovery led agents to trace the drugs to Novi, Michigan and ultimately identify the organization's leader, Maurice Mountain McCoy, a white American living in Los Angeles. 

This case shows us something important. Not all cartels are Latino. Not all drug traffickers use armored trucks or speak Spanish. Some use motorcycles, have connections throughout the country, and operate under the guise of organizations or gangs.

Chapter 3: The American Cartels and the US Definition

Now, let's put this in context. In the United States, the Department of Justice defines drug cartels as large foreign criminal organizations. Yes, foreign. That means that for the US government, if the organization is from here, it simply can't be called a cartel, even if it does exactly the same thing: traffic fentanyl, control routes, and launder money. 

That's why terms like motorcycle gangs or outlaw motorcycle gangs, have emerged, with famous groups such as the Hells Angels, Outlaws, Pagans, or Bandidos. They’re highly sophisticated structures. They travel in groups, covering miles across the country, distributing synthetic opioids and armed to the teeth. According to experts, thanks to these gangs, drugs like fentanyl are no longer just a problem on the southern border with Mexico, but affect entire neighborhoods in the northeast and the Great Lakes region. 

Chapter 4: And how do the American cartels operate? 

Unlike Mexican cartels that control territories and employ paramilitary violence, American gangs operate with a system of local cells. Each leader manages their own area, each dealer does their part, and there is no central command that orders everything. For example, these networks buy drugs from Mexican cartels and handle everything else: transportation, distribution, sales, and recovery of the money. 

They even use sophisticated money laundering methods, either through financial institutions or by secretly moving cash across the southern border. This makes them surprisingly efficient. They don't need to be Latino or have notoriety to generate enormous profits. While in Mexico drug lords seek fame, here discretion protects their operations. That's why, although around 33,000 violent gangs operate in the United States with nearly 1.4 million members involved in drug trafficking and urban violence, according to the DEA, their leaders rarely achieve the notoriety of a Chapo Guzmán. 

Chapter 5: The reality of fentanyl

Now, a crucial point is how these entities directly impact the population of the United States. Fentanyl ceased to be seen as a border problem and became a domestic threat. The distribution route crosses wealthy and densely populated states, reaching places where few would imagine the presence of these substances: naval bases, universities, and neighborhoods.

A shocking case occurred in 2021 at a naval base in Illinois. Four young sailors bought what they thought was another drug from a motorcyclist. They didn't know it contained fentanyl. One of them died of an overdose. 

Incidents like this show that the crisis doesn't discriminate based on uniform, profession, or economic status. Drugs not only crosses borders, it permeates entire environments, enters ordinary homes, and transforms an illegal trafficking problem into a public health emergency and national security. 

This expansion also helped to understand why the issue has escalated into a political matter. According to international reports, Washington has increased pressure to strengthen cooperation with Mexico in operations against fentanyl labs and production routes. The reason is clear. When overdoses grow within your own cities, the problem ceases to be something distant and becomes an internal strategic priority. Because today, more than a story of borders, fentanyl is a crisis that connects streets, families, hospitals, and governments on both sides.

Chapter 6: The Difference with Latin American Cartels 

Does this mean that criminal groups in the United States operate the same way as the large cartels in Latin America? Not exactly. The main difference lies in the scale, territorial control, and the way they operate.

Organizations like those of Sinaloa, Medellín, or Cali have been known for using paramilitary-style violence, disputing entire regions, and establishing networks of corruption that reach local authorities and even political structures. Their power is visible. 

They dominate territories, impose rules, and build reputations that instill fear. In contrast, many criminal networks within the United States operate in a more fragmented manner. They operate through cells with local leadership and intergroup agreements that prioritize distribution and profits over open control of the territory. 

Coordination is usually commercial, not hierarchical, and that makes them less visible, but no less active, and this doesn't mean they’re less dangerous. They move millions of dollars, take advantage of modern technology to communicate and distribute substances, and adapt quickly to avoid arrest. 

The big difference is that they don't seek the limelight or political power. Their strength lies in their low profile. While some Latin American drug lords become public figures, these networks prefer anonymity because going unnoticed is precisely what allows them to continue operating. And this model has a face on the streets.

Chapter 7: Gangs and Motorcycle Clubs

These organizations include the Latin Kings, MS-13, Bandidos, among others, with thousands of members. They operate like small corporations, they negotiate the shipments, transport them, distribute them, and then launder the money within the legal financial system or by smuggling cash into Mexico. Their power is territorial, but fragmented. They control streets, blocks, and neighborhoods. And although they don't have Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles (IAFV) or flashy trucks, they do have souped-up motorcycles, weapons, and sophisticated logistics. Their modus operandi is efficient and deadly, poisoning entire communities in the United States.

Chapter 8: The Bias in How Drug Trafficking Is Named

There is another aspect that is hardly ever discussed: the bias in the way drug trafficking is described within the country. Although many members of these criminal networks are white Americans with surnames like Firestone, Wyatt, Adams, or Jones, the media and official discourse tend to reserve the word "cartels" for Mexican, Colombian, or Latin American organizations. 

As journalist Jesús Esquivel, who specializes in drug trafficking, has pointed out, racism even exists in the terminology used to describe drug trafficking in the United States. Groups made up of white people are called gangs or organizations. 

While Latinos are directly labeled as cartels, even though their structures, profits, and levels of violence may be comparable. This doesn’t mean that all gangs are made up of white people. There are also Hispanic, African American, and other groups from diverse backgrounds. 

However, the language used to describe them isn’t neutral. It reflects a historical bias in how drug traffickers are perceived and where the problem is supposed to originate. The result is a public narrative that continues to present the drug trade as primarily foreign, when in reality there is an organized domestic market with sophisticated structures and national corridors that maintain the flow of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids within the country itself. 

Understanding this completely changes the traditional image of this illegal business, because our neighboring country has faces we rarely imagine. White men on motorcycles moving tons of cocaine across the territory, without the need for Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles (IAFV) or flashy trucks. 

At this point, it's worth asking ourselves, what do you think about the existence of American cartels that few know about while we continue to believe that narcotics are just a foreign problem? Do you think that would change the conversation about drugs if more were said about the internal criminal networks of our neighboring country and not just the Latin American cartels? 

Source: Milenio