One thing i don't get about these cartels though is that they always seems to be buying guns and military equipment, spending many millions, don't they have enough by now, they must have a huge stock or unused weapons. Why do they need these extra 2000 guns.
Because there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of members. They almost function as the government in some places. I dont think you can overstate how huge these cartels are. 40,000+ people have been killed in their war in the last few years.
Remember the illegal drug trade is estimated to be about 7% of global GDP.