Drug cartels are infamous for their brutal involvement in the illegal drug trade. However, to ensure stability amidst fierce competition and police crackdowns, they’ve diversified into surprisingly varied activities. These range from legitimate-seeming businesses to schemes that directly support their core operations. Let’s explore ten lesser-known activities that drug cartels participate in.
Providing Internet Services
In Michoacán, Mexico, Los Viagras, a local drug cartel faction, offered internet services that residents couldn’t refuse. They installed stolen equipment to create “narco antennas,” providing Wi-Fi. Capitalizing on their violent reputation, they forced locals to subscribe, threatening death for refusal.
Approximately 5,000 people paid $25-$30 monthly—above market rates—netting the cartel about $150,000 monthly, before authorities seized their equipment.
Radio Network Operators
Before offering internet, the Gulf Cartel secretly built a national radio network around 2006, spanning most of Mexico and parts of Guatemala. Specialists maintained the network, using a computer system to control radio signals and broadcast to specific radios. Its signal was stronger in rural areas, making it hard for authorities to hack.
Telecoms expert Jose Luis Del Toro Estrada designed the system. Cartel members used it for secure communication, tapping into military frequencies, and making threats. By 2011, the Zetas Cartel controlled the network until the Mexican army began seizing equipment.
Making Music
The Gulf Cartel has reportedly commissioned music. Alejandro Coronado and Mauro Vasquez, known as Cano and Blunt, became successful in the “narco-rap” scene. They received requests with lists of events to create songs about.
Hailing from a Gulf Cartel-controlled neighborhood, they rap about cartel conflicts, clashes with authorities, and violence. Their songs sometimes include machine gun and explosive sound samples. While they deny glorifying violence, their lyrics praise gang leaders and may contribute to the image of drug lords as local heroes, which helps attract recruits.
Running Rehab Centers
At least two major Mexican drug cartels run drug rehabilitation centers, not to help addicts, but to recruit them. Recovering addicts, vulnerable and often in debt to dealers, are coerced into becoming smugglers or hitmen. La Familia has used religious aspects of recovery programs to brainwash addicts.
These centers are also used to settle scores with customers who have betrayed or not paid their debts, leading to mass shootings.
Building Churches
Cartels build churches in poor communities with scarce public funds to gain favor and loyalty. This makes it easier to recruit new members and reduces locals’ willingness to report cartel activities.
In 2008, a Mexican bishop described the cartels as “very generous,” without specifying whether the Church accepted cartel money or if cartels supported the projects in another way.
Owning Soccer Teams
Cartels invest in ventures that please locals. Pablo Escobar bought a stake in Atlético Nacional, leading to “narco fútbol.” Colombian drug barons invested in local soccer teams to hide money and gain public support.
Escobar’s cash allowed Atlético Nacional to buy top players and win international competitions, improving Colombia’s image. However, cartel bosses introduced violence, including ordering the murder of referees and players.
Collecting Art
Mexican cartels are significantly involved in collecting art. A 2012 law limiting cash use and requiring seller information led to a freeze in the Mexican art market, with sales dropping up to 30%.
Héctor Beltrán Leyva used an art dealership as a front for drug trafficking. Pablo Escobar reportedly owned works by Picasso and Salvador Dali. Two Van Gogh paintings were found in the house of Italian drug baron Raffaele Imperiale in 2016.
Product Placement
Cartels use cinema for product placement. In 2022, India’s Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) reported that drug gangs paid filmmakers to include drug-taking scenes in Bollywood movies.
An unnamed film added a scene showing a main character using drugs after producers were paid. When the cartel requested a second scene, they initially faced resistance but ultimately succeeded through threats.
Avocados
Some Mexican cartels now focus on avocados, a highly lucrative industry worth billions, dubbed “green gold.” They have illegally cleared protected forests to grow avocados, forced farmers to pay protection money, and targeted pickers and transporters.
Trucks are commonly held up, some pickers are forced to work for free, and competition for regional control has increased Mexico’s murder rate.
Animal Sacrifice
A drug trafficking gang in Dallas, Texas, paid a cult leader to hex a DEA agent. The agent’s name was found on a blood-soaked altar in the cult leader’s house, where animals were slaughtered.
Experts say such rituals, including animal sacrifice, are part of Mexican folk religions popular among those in the drug trade, who use them to pray for safe delivery of their goods.
From providing internet services to engaging in animal sacrifice, drug cartels display a surprising range of activities beyond the drug trade. These ventures serve various purposes, from generating income to influencing communities and protecting their operations.
What do you think about these surprising activities? Leave your comment below!
