The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa, pronounced [ˈkaɾtel ðe sinaˈloa], CDS, after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Federation, the Sinaloa Cartel,[14][15][16] or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized crime syndicate and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization based in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.
The cartel's history is marked by evolution from a small crime syndicate to one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world. Founded in the late 1960s by Pedro Avilés Pérez in Sinaloa, the cartel initially focused on smuggling marijuana into the United States. Pérez is credited with pioneering the use of aircraft for drug smuggling, laying the groundwork for large-scale trafficking operations. His organization was a training ground for the second generation of Sinaloan traffickers.