History Main / TheCartel

* ''BreakingBad'' features the Mexican Salamanca cartel. The New Mexico branch is initially headed by Tuco Salamanca; his cousins Leonel and Marco run the main operation; all three were raised by their uncle, Don Hector.

* ''BreakingBad''

* RobertRodriguez's ''Mariachi'' trilogy pits the protagonist against the Cartels.
* ''The Professional'''s first major job is taking out a cartel leader.

* ''Clear And Present Danger'' by TomClancy.

* ''{{Scarface}}'', the 1980s remake, under the command of the Bolivia-stationed Alejandro Sosa.

* ''LicenceToKill''

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_cartel2_884.jpg
[[caption-width:253:Meet the Face of Cocaine Kingpins]]

One of the most infamous cartels was the Medellin cartel, and its leader Pablo Escobar (pictured), who ran most of the cocaine trade in the Americas during the 80's and 90's, until Escobar was taken down by the Colombian Search Bloc with the assistance of the United States. Escobar's power and reach was so big during his heyday that he was (and still is) referred to as the "world's greatest outlaw."

* Mexico has many, but perhaps the most infamous cartel is ''Los Zetas''. Their founders were Mexican special forces who went rogue and started doing work for the Gulf-cartel. Nowadays, they are an autonomous cartel as well as enemies of the Gulf-cartel, and many of their founding members are either arrested or dead, meaning they aren't as deadly as they used to be, but they are still known for their brutality. Just how feared are these guys? Well, one day, they threatened to kill the inhabitants of the small city Ciudad Mier. All 4,000 inhabitants left the town, leaving it completely abandoned.
** Usually Mexican Cartels are business-like and exude a PragmaticVillainy aura: They usually look for profit and if you don´t mess with them, they don´t mess with you. ''Los Zetas'' took this to extreme levels: running extortions against anyone regardless of economic level or profit, attacking and killing civilians for little to no reason, killing the entire family of an enemy instead of only the enemy, kidnapping and killing horribly the victims even when the ransom is paid, among other atrocities in a nation wide extent. And we have yet to get to the [[ItGotWorse nasty parts]].

* Mexico has many, but perhaps the most infamous cartel is ''Los Zetas''. Their founders were Kaibiles, Guatemalean elite soldiers, who went rogue and started doing work for the Gulf-cartel. Nowadays, they are an autonomous cartel as well as enemies of the Gulf-cartel, and many of their founding members are either arrested or dead, meaning they aren't as deadly as they used to be, but they are still known for their brutality. Just how feared are these guys? Well, one day, they threatened to kill the inhabitants of the small city Ciudad Mier. All 4,000 inhabitants left the town, leaving it completely abandoned.

* {{Robert Rodriguez}}'s ''Mariachi'' trilogy pits the protagonist against the Cartels.

* ''[[JamesBond Licence To Kill]]''

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* Mexico has many, but perhaps the most infamous cartel is ''Los Zetas''. Their founders were Kaibiles, Guatemalean elite soldiers, who went rogue and started doing work for the Gulf-cartel. Nowadays, they are an autonomous cartel as well as enemies of the Gulf-cartel, and many of their founding members are either arrested or dead, meaning they aren't as deadly as they used to be, but they are still known for their brutality. Just how feared are these guys? Well, one day, they threatened to kill the inhabitants of the small city Ciudad Mier. All 4000 inhabitants left the town, leaving it completely abandoned.
** Usually Mexican Cartels are business like and exude a PragmaticVillainy aura: They usually look for profit and if you don´t mess with them, they don´t mess with you. ''Los Zetas'' took this to extreme levels: running extortions against anyone regardless of economic level or profit, attacking and killing civilians for little to no reason, killing the entire family of an enemy instead of only the enemy, kidnapping and killing horribly the victims even when the ransom is paid, among other atrocities in a nation wide extent. And we have yet to get to the [[ItGotWorse nasty parts]].

* TheCartel (usually either Colombian or Mexican) has made many appearances in various shows in the ''[[LawAndOrder Law & Order]]'' franchise, usually portrayed as being untouchable due to their ruthless and violent nature. Any episode showcasing TheCartel has a high probability of ending with all witnesses either dead or too scared to testify, thus allowing the SmugSnake defendant to walk free. In one instance, on ''[[LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit Law & Order: SVU]]'', this resulted in the show's ADA being forced to fake her own death and [[PutOnABus enter Witness Protection]] to avoid a contract on her life.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Mexico has many, but perhaps the most infamous cartel is ''Los Zetas''. Their founders were Kaibiles, Guatemalean elite soldiers, who went rogue and started doing work for the Gulf-cartel. Nowadays, they are an autonomous cartel as well as enemies of the Gulf-cartel, and many of their founding members are either arrested or dead, meaning they aren't as deadly as they used to be, but they are still known for their brutality. Just how feared are these guys? Well, one day, they threatened to kill the inhabitants of the small city Ciudad Mier. All 4000 inhabitants left the town, leaving it completely abandoned.
** Usually Mexican Cartels are business like and exude a PragmaticVillainy aura: They usually look for profit and if you don´t mess with them, they don´t mess with you. ''Los Zetas'' took this to extreme levels: running extortions against anyone regardless of economic level or profit, attacking and killing civilians for little to no reason, killing the entire family of an enemy instead of only the enemy, kidnapping and killing horribly the victims even when the ransom is paid, among other atrocities in a nation wide extent. And we have yet to get to the [[ItGotWorse nasty parts]].
[[/folder]]

One of the most infamous cartels was the Medellin cartel, and its leader Pablo Escobar (pictured), who ran most of the cocaine trade in the Americas during the 80's and 90's, until Escobar was taken down by the Colombian Search Bloc.

* On ''{{Caprica}}'', the Ha'la'tha is a bizarre merging of this with the more Italian-oriented [[TheMafia Mafia]] as well as, of all things, WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome Ancient Greek culture.

* ''{{Scarface}}'', the 1980s remake, under the command of the Bolivia-stationed Alejandro Sosa. In the WhatIf videogame sequel ''The World Is Yours'', Tony breaks the group's hold on Miami and takes Sosa down.

One of the most infamous cartels was the Medellin cartel, and its leader Pablo Escobar, who ran most of the cocaine trade in the Americas during the 80's and 90's, until Escobar was taken down by the Colombian Search Bloc.

* Mexico has many, but perhaps the most infamous cartel is ''Los Zetas''. Their founders were Kaibiles, Guatemalean elite soldiers, who went rogue and started doing work for the Gulf-cartel. Nowadays, they are an autonomous cartel as well as enemies of the Gulf-cartel, and many of their founding members are either arrested or dead, meaning they aren't as deadly as they used to be, but they are still known for their brutality. Just how feared are this guys? Well, one day, they threatened to kill the inhabitants of the small city Ciudad Mier. All 4000 inhabitants left the town, leaving it completely abandoned.

** Usually Mexican Cartels are business like and exude a PragmaticVillainy or LawfulEvil aura: They usually look for profit and if you don´t mess with them, they don´t mess with you. ''Los Zetas'' took this to ChaoticEvil levels: running extortions against anyone regardless of economic level or profit, attacking and killing civilians for little to no reason, killing the entire family of an enemy instead of only the enemy, kidnapping and killing horribly the victims even when the ransom is paid, among other atrocities in a nation wide extent. And we have yet to get to the [[ItGotWorse nasty parts]].

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''TheBoondocks'', one of Riley's many "street names" is Riley Escobar.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''TheBoondocks'', one of Riley's many "street names" is Riley Escobar.
[[folder/]]

One of the most infamous cartels was the Medellin cartel, and its leader Pablo Escobar who ran most of the cocaine trade in the Americas during the 80's and 90's, until Escobar was taken down by the Colombian Search Bloc.

* The characters in ''{{Entourage}}'' at one point work on a biopic of Pablo Escobar titled "Medellin".


* Rapper Nas once adopted the stage name "Nas Escobar" as a reference to the aforementioned Pablo.
** In ''TheBoondocks'', one of Riley's many "street names" is Riley Escobar.


* On ''{{Caprica}}'', the Ha'la'tha is a bizarre merging of this with the more Italian-oriented [[TheMafia Mafia]] as well as, of all things, WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome Ancient Greek culture.
* RichardMorgan's ''Black Man'' prominently features a cartel comprise of Quechua-speaking indigenous Andeans.

* ''{{Traffic}}'' features a Mexican cartel as the antagonist.

*

* ''{{Hitman}}'' features these as enemies at different points. One mission is a ShoutOut to ''Scarface''.
* ''[[JamesBond Licence To Kill]]''

* ''BlackLagoon'' has a Columbian drug cartel as one of the [[FourIsDeath four]] criminal organisations in Roanapur, who were the focus of one StoryArc.
* TheCartel (usually either Colombian or Mexican) has made many appearances in various shows in the ''[[LawAndOrder Law & Order]]'' franchise, usually portrayed as being untouchable due to their ruthless and violent nature. Any episode showcasing TheCartel has a high probability of ending with all witnesses either dead or too scared to testify, thus allowing the SmugSnake defendant to walk free. In one instance, on ''[[LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit Law & Order: SVU]]'', this resulted in the show's ADA being forced to fake her own death and [[PutOnABus enter Witness Protection]] to avoid a contract on her life.

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* One of the traditional factions in the ''GrandTheftAuto'' series since III.
[[/folder]]

* ''Clear And Present Danger'' by TomClancy.
* {{Robert Rodriguez}}'s ''Mariachi'' trilogy pits the protagonist against the Cartels.
* ''The Professional'''s first major job is taking out a cartel leader.

* ''CallOfJuarez: The Cartel''. Guess what it's about.

* One of the traditional factions in the ''GrandTheftAuto'' series since III.

* [[RobertRodriguez The ''Mariachi'' trilogy]] pits the protagonist against the Cartels.

* The ''Mariachi'' trilogy pits the protagonist against the Cartels.