When the Mexican drug cartel started in the 1950s and 1960s, there weren't many cartels, but since then there has been a dramatic increase of the number of cartels and the cartels have had a significant impact on the United States. Throughout the existence of the drug cartels, an estimated 60,000 members of these cartels were killed while fighting other drug cartels. drugs for the territory. Mexico is a major supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the United States and nearly 90% of cocaine entering the United States passes through Mexico. Major Mexican drug cartels make between $19 billion and $29 billion annually from drug sales in the United States. One of Mexico's major drug cartels, called the Sinaloa Cartel, still exists today. The founders of the Sinaloa Cartel are: Jaime Herrera; Jorge Favela Escobar; Pedro Aviles Pérez, killed September 9, 1978; Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, captured on April 8, 1989; and Héctor Luis 'El Guero Palmo, captured on June 24, 1995 and extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges on January 19, 2007. The current leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel are Arturo Beltrán Leyva and his brothers Joaquín ". El Chapo” Guzmán Loera and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García. The Sinaloa Cartel was founded in the 1970s and its power and money grew in the 1980s, thanks to Colombians transporting cocaine through Mexico. The Sinaloa Cartel's main areas of operation are in northwest Mexico and southern California, including: Sinaloa; Durango; Chihuahua; Baja California; Sonora; Tamaulipas; New Leon; Michoacan; and Guerrero. The Sinaloa Cartel's goal is to supply more and more cocaine, heroin and marijuana to American consumers. The Beltran Leyva cartel was founded by the four Beltran Leyva brothers...... middle of paper ......e to illnesses, and heavy users report side effects including severe depression, lethargy, anxiety and fear. Methamphetamine is relatively simple to make and was the subject of the hit television series “Breaking Bad.” As long as people continue to use illicit drugs, drug trafficking and all the problems that come with it will continue. This fact has given rise to a huge debate over whether legalizing drug use would reduce the problem. Many believe that if drugs were legalized, it would reduce profits from sales and reduce the ability of drug cartels to generate the revenue necessary to conduct their operations. Legalizing drugs would also allow the U.S. government to tax the sale of drugs and use that revenue for programs designed to help prevent people from using them. This debate is, however, the subject of another civic presentation.