Top 5 US Cities that are Crowded by Mexican Drug Cartels

Below you can find the list of top 5 US cities that are used by Mexican drug cartels as distribution hubs. For a detailed discussion of Mexican drug cartels’ US operations please see this article.

5. Denver

Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel both use Denver as a major distribution hub. Juarez Cartel is the fourth powerful Mexican drug Cartel operating in the U.S..

4. Phoenix

Sinaloa Cartel and Beltran-Leyva Organization both use Phoenix as a major distribution hub. Beltran-Leyva Organization is the third most powerful Mexican drug cartel in the U.S..

3. Atlanta

Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel both use Atlanta as a major distribution hub. Jalisco New Generation Cartel is the second most powerful Mexican cartel in the United States.

2. Los Angeles

We bet you were thinking that Los Angeles is the #1 city that is crowded by Mexican drug cartels. There are only 3 major Mexican drug cartels based in Los Angeles: Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and Beltran-Leyva Organization.

1. Chicago

Are you surprised to see Chicago at the top of this list? Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Beltran-Leyva Organization, and Juarez Cartel operate out of Chicago even though it is such a long distance from Mexico. Chicago isn’t the murder capital of the United States, but its reputation in this regard is pretty bad. There were 750 murders in Chicago in 2016 and the rivalries among Mexican drug cartels and the gangs that help them distribute their illegal drugs definitely contributed to the Chicago’s murder tally. According to our latest calculations Chicago also has an average of 2.1 murders per day so far in 2020 and currently sits at the top of our list of 15 U.S. cities with the highest number of murders.

See also 15 most dangerous gangs in America and 35 most dangerous, ghettoest cities In America in 2017.