Cartels
In the Man in the High Brick there's numerous cartels. These are criminal organizations, involved with racketeering, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and various other crimes.
Brief History
One of the first being the Gulf Cartel. It was formed in the 1930s. Soon after, around 10 years later, during World War Two, a successful businessman, Giovanni Maldeira, forms a criminal syndicate, known as the Maldeira Cartel. It is the largest criminal organization known to mankind. The Maldeira-controlled criminal syndicate turns into a cartel. It controls all of middle America and south America. Once the United States of America capitulated to the Germanic Reich and Japanese Empire, a neutral zone was established between the Germanic and Japanese annexed parts of America. The Maldeira Cartel attempted to influence the neutral zone as well. However, soon after Giovanni Maldeira started aligning with Italian Mafia groups, such as the Black Hand, with important families such as the Sabini Family, but most primarily the Changretta Family. This angered many dons in the Maldeira cartel. The first to break ties were Joaquin Guzman, Ismael Zambada, Ernesto Fonseca and Melchor Barrios. They formed the Sinaloa Cartel, unsurprisingly, being formed in the Mexican state Sinaloa. Soon after, a domino-effect commenced, with the Potosino Cartel claiming independence, led by Bonifacio Almagro. The Maldeira Cartel collapsed and the following cartels were formed soon after: The Eladio Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Jalisco Cartel, Guerrero Cartel, Medellin Cartel, Cali Cartel, Cartel de la Sierra, and Cartel de los Soles. Any other regions Maldeira controlled but didn't go to another criminal organization were liberated of the organized crime.
Gulf Cartel
General Information
The Gulf Cartel was the first drug cartel to be formed, being formed even before the much larger Maldeira Cartel was founded. It was located Tamaulipas, Mexico. The cartel was formed by Juan Guerra.
Military Wing
The Gulf Cartel had ex-military soldiers employed as sicarios. This group of soldiers became a military wing of the Gulf Cartel, named Los Zetas.
Diplomacy
Los Zetas eventually split up from the Gulf Cartel as it's leaders thought they didn't need the Gulf Cartel. This inevitably caused Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel to go to war, causing high amounts of atrocities between members of both cartels. Eventually, some sicarios belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel betrayed their cartel and instead joined Los Zetas, causing the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels to temporarily work together to fight Los Zetas. However, not long into their alliance against Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel broke off ties, occasionally attacking each other.
Maldeira Cartel
General Information
The Maldeira Cartel is the largest cartel to have ever existed. It is ruled by Giovanni Maldeira, an Italian Mafia boss. Therefore, the Maldeira Cartel is also sometimes called a criminal syndicate. The territory belonging to the Maldeira Cartel is most of Middle and South America. According to Giovanni Maldeira, "My cartel owns every strip of land from the northern Mexico border all the way to the bottom of Argentina." It is the second oldest drug cartel in Mexico, after the Gulf Cartel, which it rivalled with abundantly.
Military Wing
The Maldeira Cartel started aligning with the Black Hand, a large Mafia group, consisting out of mafia families such as the Sabini Family and Changretta Family. He used this as his main army.
Diplomacy
The alignment with mafia groups upset various high ranking members of the Maldeira Cartel. This is ultimately widely seen as the downfall of the Maldeira Cartel. First the Sinaloa Cartel was formed. Following that, the Potosino Cartel was formed. The Eladio Cartel also declared independence. Maldeira decided to flee together with the Black Hand after Eladio's betrayal to him. This caused the entire Maldeira Cartel to collapse and various other cartels to be formed, the Tijuana Cartel, Jalisco Cartel, Guerrero Cartel, Medellin Cartel, Cali Cartel, Cartel de la Sierra and Cartel de los Soles. Other smaller criminal organizations were also formed.
The Sinaloa Cartel
General Information
The Sinaloa Cartel is the largest cartel after the Maldeira Cartel. It was the first cartel to revolt against the Maldeira Cartel, causing a domino-effect which quickly saw the establishment of various other cartels and the collapse of the Maldeira Cartel. The 4 founding members of the Sinaloa Cartel were Joaquin Guzman (also known as El Chapo), Ismael Zambada (also known as El Mayo), Ernesto Fonseca (also known as Don Neto) and Melchor Barrios (Don Melchor). The Sinaloa Cartel is allied to the Cartel de los Soles, a cartel based in Venezuela.
Military Wing
The Sinaloa Cartel utilises a military group, Los Mexicles. It is led by Melchor Barrios, who is also one of the co-founders of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Diplomacy
At some point, a group of Sinaloa Cartel sicarios betrayed the Cartel and joined Los Zetas, a former military wing of the Gulf Cartel. Due to this, the Sinaloa Cartel sided with the Gulf Cartel to combat Los Zetas. However, soon after the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel broke off ties still occasionally fighting each other. The Sinaloa Cartel also had bad ties with the Potosino Cartel, led by Bonifacio Almagro. This was due to a rivalry dating back to the time where both leaders of the Sinaloa and Potosino cartels were members of the Maldeira Cartel. This caused the Sinaloa Cartel and the Potosino Cartel to become arch enemies and attack each other often. Eventually, the Sinaloa Cartel appeared to start having internal struggles. It's greatest leader, Joaquin Guzman, who is the most well known leader of the cartel, was found to be collaborating with his other family members, few of which were members in their great rival cartel, the Potosino Cartel. This caused a coup where Ernesto Fonseca and Melchor Barrios seized control of the cartel. Ismael Zambada was unharmed. Joaquin Guzman was deposed as leader of the cartel. Following the demise of Joaquin Guzman's leadership, Melchor Barrios decided to take the coup a step further. Melchor Barrios ensured Ernesto Fonseca was no longer in control. Melchor Barrios forced Ernesto Fonseca to become the face of the cartel, which is a dangerous position. Melchor Barrios would be the actual leader of the cartel, with Ismael Zambada being second in command.
The Potosino Cartel
The Potosino Cartel was formed shortly after the Sinaloa Cartel was established. Similarly to the Sinaloa Cartel, it was formed in a revolt against the Maldeira Cartel. Unlike the Sinaloa Cartel however, the Potosino Cartel only had 1 leader, being Bonifacio Almagro. When Bonifacio Almagro was still a member of the Maldeira Cartel, he had a rivalry with the current leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. This prompted a rivalry between the two cartels now as well. This rivalry caused a full on war between the Potosino and Sinaloa Cartels. The Potosino Cartel has a military wing, called Los Javelinas. The Potosino Cartel also has an alliance with the Colombian Cartel de la Sierra.
The Eladio Cartel
General Information
The Eladio Cartel is a cartel formed during the collapse of the Maldeira Cartel. Similarly to the Maldeira Cartel, the Eladio Cartel is renamed after it's leader, Eladio Vuente. Alongside Eladio Vuente, Juan Bolsa and Hector Salamanca are also leaders. The Cartel swiftly grows to numerous other members also joining.
Military Wing
The Eladio Cartel utilises the Hermandad del Desierto group for military purposes.
Diplomacy
The Eladio Cartel is not very diplomatically active. Only for a brief period of time did the Eladio Cartel actively fight, against the remaining forces belonging of the Maldeira Cartel.
The Tijuana Cartel
General Information
The Tijuana Cartel is a cartel that broke off from the Maldeira Cartel. They were formed in Tijuana, Mexico. It is ruled by the Arellano Félix Family.
Military Wing
The Tijuana Cartel has it's own soldiers, unlike certain cartels, which use other groups for military purposes. The Tijuana uniform is dark blue.
Diplomacy
The Tijuana Cartel isn't very diplomatically active, though occasionally combatting other cartels.
The Milenio Cartel
General Information
The Milenio Cartel is a short-lived cartel founded in Michoacán, Mexico, after the fall of the Maldeira Cartel. It eventually expanded into Jalisco as well. It is headed by Valencia Family. This family consists out of the leader, Armando Valencia and it's two co-leaders, Oscar Valencia and Luis Valencia. Eventually, their leader, Armando, was arrested by the Schutzstaffel, the main Germanic paramilitary force. He was later extradited back to Mexico, where he faces life imprisonment without parole. Oscar Valencia as well as Luis Valencia took control of the cartel after, immediately wanting to collaborate with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Military Wing
The Milenio Cartel was not very active militarily speaking. They primarily bribed police units and government officials to stay out of trouble. However, they did have a small group of mercenaries to fight for them if necessary. Especially after their collaboration with the Sinaloa Cartel they did not need much of an army, as Sinaloa provided sicarios for them.
Diplomacy
After Armando Valencia's arrest, his family members, Oscar Valencia and Luis Valencia, commenced friendly relations with the Sinaloa Cartel. Due to this improvement in relations, they started collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel Drug Lord, Ignacio Coronel. Due to the relations with the Sinaloa Cartel, the cartel was able to expand into the Mexican state Colima as well. Eventually, Oscar Valencia was brutally killed in a gun battle. It is unknown which group is responsible for the death of him, but it caused a power vacuum within the Milenio Cartel. This caused 2 major groups to form. These groups being La Resistencia and the Jalisco Cartel
The Jalisco Cartel
General Information
The Jalisco Cartel is a large cartel founded in Jalisco, Mexico, after the fall of the Milenio Cartel. It is led by Nemesio Oseguera, also known as El Mencho.
Military Wing
The Jalisco Cartel does not employ any other organization for it's military purposes. Instead, the Jalisco Cartel utilises it's own soldiers, often dressed in black uniforms and taught to be extremely violent. Often, these soldiers wear skull masks to appear extra frightening. They are also heavily armed with AK-47s or similar weaponry. Only the officers, who are well equipped, wield smaller automatic weapons for ease.
Diplomacy
The Jalisco Cartel uses extreme violence, notably against opposing cartels or organizations, such as Los Zetas, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Potosino Cartel. The Jalisco Cartel has bad ties with a large amount of criminal organizations, notably Los Zetas, which it is warring against.