How ‘American Cartels’ Operate: The Criminal Networks Thriving Inside the US

United States — For decades, the US government has portrayed drug trafficking as a problem originating abroad, with Mexican and Latin American cartels flooding the country with narcotics. But a closer look reveals a vast network of domestic criminal organizations that handle distribution, street sales, and money laundering once drugs cross the border.

According to an FBI report, more than 30,000 gangs operate in the United States, with an estimated 1.4 million members working for foreign criminal groups. These include the Mexican Mafia in Arizona, Barrio Azteca, the Border Brothers, the Hells Angels, and the Latin Kings, among others.

Some experts argue these groups could be classified as cartels. They operate similarly to their counterparts in Colombia, Mexico, and Central America, controlling neighborhoods, streets, and even specific corners. Their decentralized structure — with independent cells rather than a single supreme leader — makes them difficult to dismantle.

“The world has grown accustomed to the narrative pushed by the US federal government that cartels exist elsewhere but never on its own soil,” said an analyst. “That was true until a few years ago, when Mexican cartels realized how dangerous it is to operate inside the US. They remain the main wholesale suppliers, but for decades, US citizens have been involved in selling, transporting, distributing, and laundering money for these illicit drugs.”

Former US Attorney General Pam Bondi has repeatedly emphasized that Latin American cartels are responsible for flooding the US with drugs. However, critics say this narrative omits the domestic side of the trade. “If the US recognized its own cartels, it would lose the political leverage to pressure other nations like Mexico,” noted one observer.

Steven Dudley of Insight Crime argues that US gangs lack the power to corrupt authorities as their Latin American counterparts do. “Their connections with law enforcement, political elites, and economic elites are minimal, and they have little capacity to challenge the state’s monopoly on power,” he said.

Unlike the Italian mafia of the early 20th century, which produced iconic bosses like Al Capone and John Gotti, today’s US drug trade has no single capo. Experts say this is by design: a low profile reduces risk. “Avoiding public exposure is an advantage — the lower the profile, the lower the risk,” one analyst explained.

Despite this, drug consumption in the US has risen in recent decades, and cartels from Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere remain the primary suppliers. The question of why the US doesn’t acknowledge its own cartels, experts say, boils down to two uncomfortable truths: the US already has cartels operating on its soil, and it has neglected a public health and education crisis that has become a massive, difficult-to-stop problem.