The Wolfpack Alliance Usurped Italian Drug Trade in Canada & Opened the Door for the Sinaloa Cartel

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Like the United States, Canada faces a concern about the increase in drug use, mainly opioids such as fentanyl, an item that has shown significant growth in the number of deaths at least between 2015 and 2017. To a large extent, due to narcotics that the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) sells. The Mexican drug cartels and their alliances with local mafias are partners in this growth in the consumption of marijuana, cocaine, and fentanyl. So far, CDS, Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and Los Zetas operations have been detected in Canada.

Unlike the operation in Mexico, in Canada, they do not have labor that is so readily available. What they do here is that they have created a scheme more like 'Costco type', anyone who comes buys what they sell, but they also keep part of the product and also market it.

Its members are bikers, members of street gangs, and representatives of the Irish and Italian mafias. It is "The Consortium", although its members identify themselves as "The Wolfpack" one of the feared criminal groups in Canada that are now in the public eye after the publication of a book detailing part of their dealings with the Mexican drug cartels to traffic narcotics.

This gang that operates in the main Canadian capitals such as Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver worked to have a constant supply of cocaine from the Andean region by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel to Canada, an association that marked a change in the behavior of local mafias until then controlled by Italian families such as the 'Ndrangheta and the Cosa Nostra.

Wolfpack members are millenial-aged multiracial bikers, members of street gangs, and representatives of the Irish and Italian mafias. Connected via local cells and internet communication.

In the recently published book "Wolfpack", journalists Peter Edwards and Luis Nájera describe how this alliance transformed the world of the drug trade in the country, not only displacing Italian families and gangs like the Hells Angels but also in the sales model - through warehouses - the use of new technologies and the design of a new type of drug traffickers.

"They are united by the Internet, not by geography," Edwards said Tuesday in an interview with local broadcaster CTVNews.ca. "Some are in Vancouver, some are in Montreal, some are in Toronto and it doesn't really matter, they can move."

Edwards said that this mobility capacity greatly distinguished them from organized crime groups that operated a few years ago and that they were only limited to one geographic center. "With Wolfpack, there is no place, there is only a shared need for the Internet."

"The level of sophistication of the cartels surprised me," Edwards said. "These are not drug users, they are not stupid, they are smart people who know what they are doing, they are withholding cocaine so they can influence the market and sell it to both sides, the pandemic did not seem to do them any harm."

One part of the book details why technology played a crucial role in the running of Wolfpack, with pages of encrypted text showing how the members planned to move tons of cocaine, vent about marital problems, and who they had on their blacklist.

On the other hand, the members of the pact came out of the shadows to leave behind their usually low profile and began to be noticed thanks to their appearance closer to businessmen than criminals.

“Before this new generation of criminals emerged, Mexican groups managed client relationships in various parts of Canada. Groups like the Wolfpack used to buy the drugs and distribute them here (Canada) for their own profit. Once the Mexican cells arrived to settle in the country, they themselves were in charge of smuggling and distributing the drugs directly, with the support of local criminal gangs. In a way, the Wolfpack was the gateway for Mexicans, as it provided them with contacts, access, clients, and influence over other groups. Thus, they opened the way to establish themselves," said Luis Nájera, in an interview with Insight Crime., an organization dedicated to research and analysis on security issues.

The Sinaloa Cartel became the natural supplier of this gang and therefore the owner of the Canadian market, displacing local mafias until then controlled by Italian families such as the 'Ndrangheta and the Cosa Nostra. Within this association, Najera highlighted, a key character was identified who is only known to be known as "Carnalito", a protagonist of whom there is no image and very little is known about the way in which he operates.

As investigated by Nájera and Peter Edwards, the other co-author of the book, "Carnalito" is apparently someone influential who has a lot of power within the Sinaloa Cartel, and is with whom all deals and negotiations are made. However, it is unknown if this trafficker is located in Mexico or elsewhere in the world.

A search carried out on alleged criminals with the alias of "Carnalito" in Mexico, only returned the name of Ángel David Gómez Mendoza, an alleged hitman wanted in Baja California for murder in 2019.

One of the differences in the operation is that in Mexico they are managed with plaza managers who are in charge of the business, while in Canadian territory they do so through “cells” that coordinate with each other.

Nájera pointed out that the United States continues to be the main consumer of Mexican drugs, but Canada is presented as a new platform not only for sale but also for shipping to European markets.

Another palpable sign that shows the presence of the Mexican cartels in Canada is the exhibitionism of some local gangsters, who are not afraid to be noticed in public events such as basketball games or soccer games in which they make themselves known by shouting expletives at the players or entering in controversies with fans.

According to the authors' research, the Sinaloa Cartel has a presence in eastern Canada where it is primarily engaged in the trafficking and trade of cocaine. The Arellano Félix would remain in force thanks to their relationship with criminal groups in western Canada such as rural Alberta and Vancouver.

Sources

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