Browsing: transnational crime

Once an Olympic athlete, Ryan James Wedding is now one of America’s most wanted fugitives. U.S. authorities say he operates from Mexico, aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, coordinating cocaine trafficking and linked to multiple murders. A $15 million reward signals how serious the hunt has become.

Mexico is no longer just a patchwork of rival cartels — it’s two criminal federations competing for the country. La Nueva Federación and La Alianza del Pacífico now operate like rival economies. The alliances are unofficial, but real. What follows is a breakdown of who’s in, what it means, and what comes next.