Mexico Drug War: Two Cartels Poised To Battle For Drug Markets

Here a developing narrative, or story line, is presented by "Mexican federal authorities" and other experts, as to how the battle between the cartels appears to be boiling down to an possibly final war between the Sinaloa cartel and the Zetas. We will be watching how this narrative evolves and seeing whether is corresponds to actual events. 

Huffington Post: "Mexican federal authorities, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told The Associated Press that the Zeta and Sinaloa cartels are now the nation's two dominant drug traffickers. One or the other is present almost everywhere in Mexico, but officials are braced to see what happens next in a drug war ...

The government's success in killing or arresting some cartel leaders has fractured most of the other gangs to such an extent that they have devolved into quarreling bands, or been forced to operate as subsidiaries of the two main cartels. That has often meant expanded territory and business opportunities for the hyper-violent Zetas and drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa cartel.

"They are the two most successful cartels, or at least they have been able to expand in recent years," said drug trade and security expert Jorge Chabat. ... According to Chabat, the two have survived the government crackdown because they have been more skilled than their weaker counterparts. He said the new alignment may make it easier for government forces to target the two big cartels, as opposed to fighting half a dozen of them.

"The question is whether the Sinaloa cartel and Zetas are going to break at some point or not," said Chabat. "Right now they are very strong, but if in two or three years these cartels are pulverized, they may say that (the drug war) was a success.""

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