<P> The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa) is an international drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime syndicate . Established during the mid-1980s, the Sinaloa Cartel is based primarily in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, with operations in the Mexican states of Baja California, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua . The cartel is also known as the Guzmán - Loera Organization and the Pacific Cartel, the latter due to the coast of Mexico from which it originated . The cartel has also been called the Federation and the Blood Alliance . The' Federation' was partially splintered when the Beltrán - Leyva brothers broke apart from the Sinaloa Cartel . </P> <P> The United States Intelligence Community considers the Sinaloa Cartel "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world" and in 2011, the Los Angeles Times called it "Mexico's most powerful organized crime group ." The Sinaloa Cartel is associated with the label "Golden Triangle", which refers to the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua . The region is a major producer of Mexican opium and marijuana . According to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 tons of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008 . According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, within the U.S. the Sinaloa Cartel is primarily involved in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and MDMA . It is the majority supplier of illicit fentanyl to North America . </P> <P> As of 2017, the Sinaloa Cartel is the most active drug cartel involved in smuggling illicit drugs into the United States and trafficking them throughout the United States . After the arrest of Joaquín' El Chapo' Guzmán, the cartel is now headed by Ismael Zambada Garcia (aka El Mayo) and Guzman's sons, Alfredo Guzman Salazar and Ivan Archivaldo Salazar . </P> <P> Pedro Avilés Pérez was a pioneer drug lord in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in the late 1960s . He is considered to be the first generation of major Mexican drug smugglers of marijuana who marked the birth of large - scale Mexican drug trafficking . He also pioneered the use of aircraft to smuggle drugs to the United States . </P>

Who is in charge of sinaloa cartel now
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