There is no single agreed-on number of cartels in Mexico, but experts say the landscape is highly fragmented, with hundreds of criminal groups rather than just a few big cartels.

Quick Scoop: How many cartels are in Mexico?

Not just “5 or 6 cartels” anymore

  • Security analysts explain that what people used to call a handful of “big cartels” has splintered into many smaller factions.
  • One Mexican security consultancy cited by CNN estimated around 400 criminal organizations of different sizes operating across the country.
  • These include a few major brands (like Sinaloa and CJNG) plus many regional cells, splinters, and local gangs that work under or alongside them.

The major cartel “brands”

Most reporting still talks about a core group of big cartels, even though each one is internally divided:

  • Sinaloa Cartel
  • Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)
  • Gulf Cartel
  • Los Zetas (and remnants/splinters)
  • JuĂĄrez Cartel
  • BeltrĂĄn Leyva remnants and spin‑offs
  • Smaller regional groups in states like MichoacĂĄn, Guerrero, Guanajuato, etc.

Analysts often describe a few dominant organizations with dozens of affiliated factions , rather than a neat list you can count on one hand.

Why is it so hard to give an exact number?

  • Cartels split, merge, rebrand, and form alliances frequently, so any number is a snapshot, not a stable total.
  • Some groups are full-blown national organizations; others are local cells that may act semi‑independently but still pay taxes (“piso”) or answer to a bigger cartel.
  • Government and research estimates focus more on how many people work for cartels (roughly 160,000–185,000 members as of early–mid 2020s) than on counting the exact number of groups.

What the latest analysis suggests (mid‑2020s context)

  • Recent security and research work paints Mexico as a patchwork map of cartel‑influenced territories, with criminal groups active in a large share of municipalities.
  • One 2023 study in Science estimated cartels as one of Mexico’s largest “employers,” underlining how embedded and far‑reaching these organizations have become.
  • Newer maps and analysis in 2024–2026 emphasize fragmentation and internal wars (for example, rival factions inside Sinaloa, and CJNG expanding into power vacuums).

If you want a simple takeaway

  • “How many cartels are in Mexico?”
    • Big national cartels: a small number, usually counted as around 5–8 main groups.
* **Total criminal organizations (big + small):** on the order of **hundreds** , with one expert estimate around **400** groups of different sizes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.