Revealed: Cocaine gangs who run drugs around the world
These are the key players in the international network of organised criminals who run drugs including cocaine across the globe.
Cocaine Inc
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Cocaine use is likely to hit 50 million people as drug cartels have started buying up old ”rust bucket” ships to supercharge supply of the stimulant across the globe.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has warned there was already enough cocaine being produced to double the market.
It comes as sources reveal the Chinese port of Guangzhou has become a cocaine stockpile destination.
A former senior law enforcement officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said cartels were now holding tons of the drug there to then drip feed it out into the international market.
“They are buying ships, rust buckets, and then sending them to Australia,” the source said.
“They follow traditional shipping lanes but without transponders so they cannot be detected.
“Even though they are big ships, they can move them with just four people, a captain, a first mate and two deckies.”
The source revealed the “mother ships” then met “daughter ships” off Australia’s coast where the drugs were picked up and then distributed across the country.
The ships were then returned to China where they were resold or simply scuttled.
The UNODC revealed that 1.3 tons of cocaine was seized in Guangzhou in 2018, while the port has also become a key player in the movement of ice and other drugs produced in Asia’s Golden Triangle.
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Criminal cartels are now looking to Asia and Africa as emerging markets for the drug, which currently has 21.5 million annual users across the world.
“Cocaine use is on the rise at the global level. The number of people who use cocaine has been increasing at a faster rate than population growth,” the UNODC’s Global Report on Cocaine states.
“The current increase in cocaine supply at source in Latin America coupled with the expansion of trafficking of the drug eastward may potentially lead to an expansion of limited markets in Africa and Asia.
“From an estimated 21.5 million users of cocaine in 2020, that number would increase to 55 million, should the prevalence in Asia, Africa and the rest of Europe increase to the level of Western and Central Europe.”
These are the key players in the international network of organised criminals who run drugs including cocaine across the globe.
See who’s who below in the list.
Kinahan Clan
Ireland
Christopher Vincent Kinahan and his sons Christopher Jr and Daniel Joseph Kinahan have A$7 million rewards on their heads from the US Drug Enforcement Agency and are now operating from Dubai. They started selling Colombian cocaine in Dublin in the 1990s, and expanded to England and Europe. A war with rival Dublin gang the Hutch has seen an attempt on Daniel’s life and 18 murders.
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Sinaloa Cartel
Mexico
The nation’s most powerful criminal cartel built its billion-dollar empire shipping cocaine for Colombian organisations. Led by El Chapo, it took over large sections of the drug trade. El Chapo was arrested three times, and escaped a Mexican prison in 2015. He was later recaptured and extradited to the US, where he is serving life imprisonment, plus 30 years, for running the cartel.
CJNG
Mexico
The feared Jalisco New Generation Cartel has, in just 15 years, become Sinaloa’s key rival, building its empire through police executions and the mutilation of rivals. It dumped two cars filled with an unknown number of hacked-up bodies in January 2024 as a warning against joining rival gangs. The US has a $A15m reward for tips about leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho.
Cartel Del Golfo
Mexico
The ‘Gulf Cartel’ has been a major player since the 1980s, but has lost power and influence. The group was involved in the kidnapping of four Americans in 2023, two of whom were murdered. Mexican Marines, an elite force, arrested its leader known as La Kena in March 2024. The CDG has split into factions, including the Scorpions, Panthers and Cyclones.
BLO
Mexico
A key player in the fentanyl trade, the BLO built its empire through cocaine and remains an active player. The US sanctioned 15 BLO leaders in 2023, including Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe and Pedro Inzunza Noriega. The BLO was the enforcement wing of Sinaloa, and Texas-born Edgar Valdez Villarreal (La Barbie) – now jailed in the US – ran the group’s hit squad.
Los Rojos
Mexico
Formed as part of the Cartel De Golfo in the 1990s, ‘The Reds’ have become an increasing threat, and have battled with the Sinaloa cartel against CJNG. Mexican authorities, including the air force and national guard, arrested one of their leaders “El Johnny” in April 2022. Los Rojos was blamed for the 2016 murder of a female mayor, Gisela Mota, 33, a day after she won office.
Ndrangheta
Italy
The mafia group once controlled up to 70 per cent of global cocaine shipments, with lieutenants in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia sourcing drugs directly. But rival Albanian gangs have moved into the trade, shipping from Ecuador. In Australia, the AFP has estimated there were up to 5000 people with mafia ties, mostly Ndrangheta. A March 2024 hit on Melbourne greengrocer John Peter Latorre has been linked to the Ndrangheta.
Camorra
Italy
Dating back to the 1800s, the Camorra took over the food markets in Naples following the allied bombings of WWII. They’ve since leveraged “extensive international networks to orchestrate the importation of cocaine into Italy”, says the UN. The group has direct links in Mexico. Trafficker Giulio Perrone was living there for decades before his 2017 arrest and deportation to Rome. Italian prosecutors had found him via Facebook.
Comando Vermelho
Brazil
‘Red Command’ has set up links in Bolivia which produce just over a third of the world’s cocaine supply. Their presence has also led to a spike in murders near the border. The group has grown in power after the arrests of rivals. They are suspected of buying up to half of a haul of 43,000 weapons in just three years. Marcelo Cardoso, aka Pezao, was arrested in January 2024 for his links to Red Command.
Primeiro Comando da Capital
Brazil
Based in Sao Paulo, ‘First Capital Command’ has 11,000+ members and is a powerful player moving drugs through Paraguay and Uruguay. It has ties to the Ndrangheta, sending tonnes of drugs to Europe. Hundreds of people were killed when a peace deal with the Comando Vermelho collapsed in 2016. The group is estimated to make $1 billion a year from drug trafficking. Leader Marco Willians Herbas Comacho (Marcola) is in jail.
Ecuadorian gangs
Ecuador
Los Tiguerones, Los Choneros and Los Templados have become serious global players. The gangs’ power grew after the paramilitary group FARC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016, allowing new players into the drug market. Police declared a state of emergency when Los Choneros leader José Adolfo Macías (El Fito) escaped prison in January 2024. The gangs responded by taking over a TV station at gunpoint.
Black Axe
Nigeria
The secretive, violent cult built its business on internet scams. The group has as many as 30,000 members. Now they are moving into the cocaine industry, setting up bases in Italy, according to the United Nations. Black Axe members were arrested in Italy in 2022 after a woman forced into sex slavery escaped and contacted police.
Wolfpack
Canada
The Wolfpack has taken over Canada’s cocaine market, buying in bulk directly from Mexican cartels on trips to Cancun. It works through alliances among criminal gangs, and includes members of the Hells Angels and leaders of the group Independent Soldiers. James Clayton Riach, a Wolfpack leader, was jailed for life in the Philippines in 2021, but Australian Federal Police claim there was evidence he was running drugs from his cell.
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