The Santa Cruz Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Santa Cruz) is a Bolivian drug cartel and criminal organization, said to be one of the largest in the country, headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.[1]
The cartel was responsible for multiple narco-terrorist incidents in the 1980s, including assassination attempts on Drug Enforcement Administration agents and bombing attempts on politicians.[2]
The Santa Cruz Cartel is strongly allied with drug trafficking organizations in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, though is involved in various turf wars against smaller drug gangs.[3] Local intelligence states that members of the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) drug gang have fled the favelas of Brazil to Santa Cruz in order to escape the Federal Police.[4]
