LONDON — European law enforcement agencies are on alert as the Sinaloa cartel — one of the world’s oldest and most powerful drug syndicates — expands its criminal empire across the Atlantic.
Polish law enforcement officials earlier this month raided a methamphetamine laboratory linked to the North American cartel that authorities said was operating inside a modest country villa.
Helicopter footage posted online shows elite police units descending upon the compound and uncovering an industrial-sized production facility. The seized liquid methamphetamine had an estimated street value of $1.63 million. The Police Central Bureau of Investigation (CBSP) announced the seizure also included three tons of chemicals used in the process of creating the synthetic drug.
Polish media linked the operation to the Sinaloa cartel, even though the Police Central Bureau of Investigation avoided naming the group directly, as the investigation into the operation is ongoing.
CBSP has its origins in the response to the organized crime wave that swept Poland in the late 1990s.
Founded in 2000, the elite law enforcement unit has used raids, wiretaps and informants to break apart the organized crime rings that flourished in Poland after the fall of communism.
More recently, Poland — and Europe as a whole — is finding that organized crime is importing its operations, not just its products, into the EU.
“They’re already here. They’re operating. They’re finding comfortable conditions for drug production, with the participation of residents. They’re selling drugs to our loved ones,” said Joanna Gocłowska-Bolek, a professor and a Latin American expert with the University of Warsaw.
As the U.S. attempts to clamp down on drug trafficking, Europe is becoming more critical to narcotics networks. The Sinaloa cartel has expanded its footprint in Europe since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A joint 2022 report by EU agency Europol and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed that Mexican cartels and EU-based criminal networks have joined forces, with the cartels providing methamphetamine “cooks” to their European collaborators.
French and Belgian police announced in May that they had dismantled meth production and distribution ring “with strong ties to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel,” and Spain last year arrested 14 people with suspected links to the Sinaloa cartel.
“We must break away from the comfortable belief that we are free from the threats posed by drug cartels,” Ms. Gocłowska-Bolek said. “Until now, in Poland and other European countries, we’ve been content to believe that Mexican cartels are some colorful, somewhat sentimental curiosity, like the TV series ’Narcos,’ a part of Latin American folklore.”
The meth laboratory in Poland is similar to other Sinaloa production sites uncovered in Europe. First, a discreet house in a rural community is acquired through clandestine means. Mexican ‘trainers’ are flown in to instruct locals in production, after which the Sinaloa operatives move on to the next site.
French police announced the raid on a similar complex in Le Val, Provence, near the Riviera in 2023 where Mexican chemists reportedly trained locals before departing.
In Mexico, the cartel has engaged in costly turf battles with spinoff factions and its rival, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. This year alone, hundreds of people have died each month in drug-related violence in Sinaloa. In Europe, the group founded by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in 1987 applies a different, more stealthy strategy.
“The relationships cartels build with these European actors are pragmatic rather than confrontational,” said Aleksandar Srbinovski, an analyst for the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime in Europe, “Unlike in Mexico, where dominance is enforced through spectacular violence, in Europe the cartels adopt a lower profile. Their emissaries — often family members or long-trusted lieutenants — settle quietly, establishing shell companies, cultivating contacts with corrupt officials and letting their European partners handle street-level enforcement.”
The Sinaloa cartel’s European presence has matured from seeing the region as an essential market for cocaine to one that is an important region for synthetic drug production as well. The cartels and their representatives are currently operating in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and increasingly in Eastern Europe.
President Trump has launched the most rigorous anti-drug campaign of any president this century. His administration has moved to designate the Sinaloa cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. Special Forces have deployed to Mexico to train their counterparts.
This month, President Trump authorized a series of military strikes on high-speed marine craft suspected of involvement in the drug trade in the Caribbean.
With the United States taking such measures, the Sinaloa cartel and other drug traffickers are looking not only for lucrative markets but also for new safe havens as well.
“Europe offers both higher profits and logistical advantages. A kilogram of cocaine sold at source in Colombia or Ecuador might fetch $10,000, but in Rotterdam or Antwerp the same package can yield more than $41,248. By inserting themselves directly into European logistics hubs, cartels cut out intermediaries and maximize returns,” said Mr. Srbinovski.
While Europe remains the primary market for most illegal drugs produced on the continent, a higher percentage is also being shipped elsewhere. The price of methamphetamine in countries like Australia, Japan, and New Zealand is considerably higher than in Europe.
The European Union Drug Agency released a study this year that warned of increased illegal drug production within the EU. The report noted that more drugs were being produced closer to European users, which “may trigger more rapid shifts in consumption trends.”
Countries across Europe have noticed an uptick in drug-related fatalities as well.
For now, the Sinaloa drug lab in rural Poland may be Europe’s warning shot — a vivid reminder that transnational cartels are no longer knocking at the door; they’re already inside.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.