44 years after the War on Drugs began, it’s safe to say America has lost. Mexican drug cartels have one million armed foot soldiers on US streets today because profits from illegal drug sales dwarf all of Wall Street’s pharmaceutical companies combined. How did the most powerful military on Earth lose a war to a tiny rebel force based in Mexico? If you believe DoJ whistleblowers, LAPD detectives, WikiLeaks and leaked FBI memos, it’s because the US government is on the side of the enemy.

Feds make secret alliance with Sinaloa drug cartel

What does the US Department of Justice, the Sinaloa drug cartel, and the spy corporation Stratfor have in common? According to CIA documents leaked by WikiLeaks, they’re all at the center of the new US strategy in the War on Drugs. In 2012, Whiteout Press exposed the shocking alliance in the article, ‘Secret US Alliance with Sinaloa Cartel exposed’.

The report detailed, ‘According to numerous leaked Stratfor emails made available by WikiLeaks, Mexican and US officials secretly discuss the strategy with the spy corporation. The theory was that everything was fine when one cartel controlled the central corridor of drug caravans coming into the US. Now that other cartels like Sinaloa, Los Zetas and the Carrillo Fuentes Organization are fighting for the same territory, tens of thousands of people are dying. Instead of bringing all the cartels to justice and stopping the flow of drugs into America, US officials let it be known that they had decided the Sinaloa cartel had won the war.’

In a separate article in 2012 titled, ‘DoJ protected Fast & Furious Target twice’, we quoted the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and CNN in their shocking revelations that the notorious secret DoJ program to traffic arms to Mexican drug cartels was even more scandalous than originally reported. Not only was the BATF and the US Attorney’s office knowingly arming drug cartels with thousands of military weapons, US authorities twice arrested and released their stated number one target – a Sinaloa cartel leader. That scenario played out again only months ago when Sinaloa’s top boss was arrested and somehow managed to escape from Mexico’s most secure prison.

Mexican government confirms US-Sinaloa alliance

In the above Whiteout Press article from 2012, we quoted a leaked memo from an official in the Mexican government to the secret US spy corporation Stratfor. The official describes in plain-speak the new US strategy in the War on Drugs. He explains:

‘So, the MX strategy is not to negotiate. However, I think the US sent a signal that could be construed as follows: “To the VCF and Sinaloa cartels: Thank you for providing our market with drugs over the years. We are now concerned about your perpetration of violence, and would like to see you stop that. In this regard, please know that Sinaloa is bigger and better than VCF. Also note that CDJ [Juarez] is very important to us, as is the whole border. In this light, please talk amongst yourselves and lets all get back to business. Again, we recognize that Sinaloa is bigger and better, so either VCF gets in line or we will mess you up.”

I don’t know what the US strategy is, but I can tell you that if the message was understood by Sinaloa and VCF as I described above, the Mexican government would not be opposed at all. In sum, I have a gut feeling that the US agencies tried to send a signal telling the cartels to negotiate themselves. They unilaterally declared a winner [the Sinaloa Cartel], and this is unprecedented and deserves analysis.’

Mexican drug cartel territories – then and now

Did the US government truly join the drug wars on the side of the Sinaloa cartel as the various leaked reports from two countries and one corporation accuse? Maps of the various cartels’ territories comparing 2010 to 2015 would suggest the answer is yes. What was recently a ten-cartel landscape has now seen two cartels rise above all the others – Sinaloa and Los Zetas. Ironically, Los Zetas was the military wing of Sinaloa until its leaders broke away and started their own competing cartel. With most of its members being US-trained Special Forces soldiers from the Mexican Army, the Zetas raised the level of carnage which rapidly spread across the whole of Mexico.

This 2010 cartel map developed by Stratfor shows how Mexico was divided and shared by as many as a dozen different drug cartels.

This 2012 cartel map from Stratfor shows the immediate result of the US alliance with the Sinaloa drug cartel (aqua/blue area top-left).

This 2014 cartel map from Stratfor shows the final outcome of the US drug war strategy.

Final synopsis

Some will argue that the US government’s policy of joining the drug cartels instead of fighting them was a success. Bringing an end to the cartel wars will also bring an end to the recurring massacres and mass graves. But others will disagree, insisting that illicit drugs are destroying American society. And rather than guaranteeing the free flow of drugs into the US, the US government should fight and destroy the cartels once and for all.

Regardless, one unintended consequence of the US policy is slowly emerging. With just one or two drug cartels controlling tens of billions of dollars in profits, not to mention nearly all of Mexico’s sovereign territory, how long will it take for the cartels to overthrow the Mexican government? Most of the country’s local officials, police and even many of its national politicians and military officers are loyal to the cartels, not the government. At some point, America may be forced to fight a war against not only the Mexican cartels, but the Mexican government as well. And that day may be sooner than anyone thinks.