Drug Cartels and Organized Crime

What is considered a drug cartel may vary wildly and can include everything
from street gangs to traditional organized crime groups to loosely affiliated
individual dealers. However, a drug cartel is generally defined as any
organization that promotes, controls, or is significantly involved in drug
trafficking. In recent decades, fear of these groups has had a large impact on
the law and law enforcement.

Read on to learn more about how drug cartels and organized crime syndicates
operate and the laws under which they’re prosecuted.

Drug Cartels and Organized Crime: Background and History

The danger of cartels is the fact of their organization. With organization comes
power and influence that can destabilize entire communities. In 1920s Chicago,
for example, cartels not only engaged in the illegal drug trade (the sale of
prohibited alcohol, at the time) but were also involved
in embezzlement schemes, intimidation, extortion, and murder, and had so
much influence that government officials and police conveniently ignored the
perpetrators. In present-day Mexico, drug cartels in border cities engage in
wholesale slaughter, terrorize citizens, and bribe officials, not unlike the cartels
of 1920s Chicago.

U.S. law has evolved to target drug cartels (and organized crime, generally)
through the development of new, more stringent laws, as well as creative
application of existing criminal law.

Common Charges Faced By Drug Cartels and Organized Crime Rings

Drug cartel members often find themselves embroiled in criminal activities

seemingly unrelated to drug trafficking. As a cartel network grows in
membership, finances, and influence, the potential for crime grows with it. For
example, a drug cartel may eventually earn enough to purchase a dance club to
use for money laundering, and that cartel may then use the same dance club as
a front for prostitution and gambling.

Though not an exhaustive list, the following charges are frequently levied
together against members of drug cartels and other organized crime:

 Drug trafficking/distribution
 Assault and battery
 Murder
 Money laundering
 Fraud
 Embezzlement
 Theft
 Pandering
 Gambling
  Bribery

But prosecutors don’t rely solely on the variety of criminal charges when
prosecuting members of drug cartels. That strategy wouldn’t necessarily work to
increase the penalties, since it's common for members to specialize. Some
members of a loose criminal network might only be involved in the gambling
and prostitution segment of the business, whereas others might only be
involved in the drug trafficking segment.

This creates a problem for prosecutors, since these networks may survive if
only a few members are captured and tried. If a member were only responsible
for prostitution and gambling, then they might simply accept the sentence and
choose not to enter a plea deal with law enforcement. Prosecutors therefore
must have a strategy for increasing the criminal penalties to the point where
members of drug cartels will choose to enter plea deals.

Prosecutorial Strategies

There are three major strategies that prosecutors use against drug cartel
members to force a plea deal acceptance: conspiracy charges, state/federal
double charges, and RICO charges.

Conspiracy

In general, conspiracy is a unique criminal charge wherein a

person helps another person to commit a crime. For example, if a person helps
a friend to plan and commit a murder, then that person will be found guilty of
conspiracy to murder, even if the murder is not actually completed. What
matters is the intention of the person for a crime to be committed.

Conspiracy charges are very effective against drug cartels and organized crime
because even small amounts of cooperation, discussion, or planning may be
used to attach a large number of crimes to a cartel member, and it is especially
important against cartels because of how specialized they are. Only a few
“grunts” may actually traffic drugs, murder rivals, and pimp, but there are other
“managers” who knowingly direct and plan these crimes. These “managers” can
therefore be prosecuted for conspiracy.

State/Federal Double Charges

A number of crimes are covered by both state and federal law, and a defendant
may be charged separately (state and federal violations) for their crimes if they
fit the necessary criteria. This “double jeopardy avoidance” strategy can result in
an enormous prison sentence for a single violation, and prosecutors often take
advantage of this strategy to scare the defendant into entering a plea deal.

Importantly, if the facts of the federal crime (for example, drug trafficking) are
the same as the state crime (drug trafficking), then a defense lawyer may be
able to argue that the cartel member should not be tried for the "same" crime
twice. This exception relies on the specific facts of the case, however.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is a federal

law that's designed to increase the penalties of belonging to a cartel or other
organized crime group, targeting “managers” and leaders of these groups
specifically. Though conspiracy covers many instances of group-crime (planning
and cooperation), RICO law is broad enough to cover members of cartels who
merely give orders.

Under RICO law, a person who commits at least two acts of racketeering (one
of 35 criminal acts) as part of a criminal enterprise may be subject to additional
penalties for each racketeering charge. RICO has been adopted into state law
by the majority of states, some with broader applicability and significantly
different rules for prosecution, than the federal law.

Drug Crimes Can Have Big Consequences: Get Legal Help Today

We've all seen popular crime dramas depicting the ubiquitous and glamorous
"drug cartel." Yet, what you see on television isn't necessarily true to life. Being
arrested for a major drug offense is anything but glamorous. If you or someone
close to you has been charged with a drug-related crime, especially if it involves
drug cartels and organized crime, it's in your best interests to contact an
experienced criminal defense attorney near you.