Mexican Cartels in Canada

Canada has formally listed the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as terrorist entities, and a senior RCMP officer told a national television program that all seven listed groups are active here. What is publicly documented about what they actually do in this country is far smaller: one American case from 2014, an American indictment announcement that quotes the U.S. Attorney General, one Toronto police chief’s hedged remark, and a Winnipeg release that uses the words “the Mexican Cartel” without naming one.

The words “Mexican cartel” appear in Canadian police releases more often than any particular cartel does. When a Canadian force describes a network as “cartel-linked,” it almost never says which cartel, through whom, or on what evidence. The statements that do name Sinaloa or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) mostly come from American officials or from a single hedged remark by a Toronto police chief.

That gap between the language and the paper trail is the story. This report sets out what is on the record, what has been alleged and by whom, and what has not been found.

The Listing

On February 20, 2025, Public Safety Canada listed seven groups as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code: the Cártel del Golfo, the Cártel de Sinaloa, La Familia Michoacana, the Cárteles Unidos, La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Tren de Aragua and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). The government’s release said the groups “carry out, attempt to carry out, participate in or facilitate terrorist activity.” The Bishnoi Gang was added on September 29, 2025. No further cartel has been added, and the Cártel del Noreste is not on Canada’s list.

Listing is a government designation. It is not a finding that a particular Canadian case involves a particular cartel. A search for a Canadian charge, conviction, asset freeze or forfeiture that used the listing against a cartel or its associates found none. That is an absence of search results, not proof that none exists.

What Police and Officials Say

In February 2025, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme told CBC News: “We do know from the intelligence picture that Mexican organized crime or cartels are involved with the fabrication,” referring to drug production in Canada. He named no cartel and cited no case.

In October 2025, RCMP Chief Superintendent Mathieu Bertrand, director general of the National Serious and Organized Crime Program, was asked on CTV’s W5 whether each of the seven listed groups is active in Canada. According to CP24’s report of the interview, he answered “Yes,” and said: “We are aware that they [cartels] are a source of a lot of the illicit goods coming into Canada.”

The RCMP’s own releases are more cautious. Its October 2024 announcement of the Wedding investigation describes “a Mexican Cartel-linked criminal network,” and its November 2025 backgrounder uses the same description in lower case. A July 2026 news release calls the same organization, in its own words, “a cartel-linked transnational network responsible for large-scale cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking.” It describes another operation, Dead Hand, as targeting “members and associates of Mexican cartel-linked drug trafficking networks.” None of these releases names Sinaloa or CJNG.

The Sinaloa Thread

The best-known modern Canadian name tied to Sinaloa is Ryan Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder charged in the Central District of California. The tie rests on statements by American officials. In the Department of Justice’s November 19, 2025 release, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding “controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world” and “works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel.” NBC News reported at his January 2026 arrest that authorities believe he is a member of the Sinaloa Cartel. Wedding pleaded not guilty in federal court in California on January 26, 2026.

Several of the other official documents in the case do not use the word. The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted notice, the Central District of California’s March 2025 release and the U.S. Treasury’s November 2025 sanctions release all describe the alleged network without mentioning Sinaloa. The November 2025 release is a prosecutors’ press statement, and the Sinaloa link in it is an allegation, not a court finding.

That release describes Wedding as “a Canadian national residing in Mexico.” It names defendants with addresses in Thornhill, Laval, Mississauga, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal and Toronto, as well as in Colombia and Florida, and three fugitives, in Vancouver, Mexico City and Montréal. For the full account of that case, see the Wedding criminal enterprise profile.

The CJNG Thread

On January 21, 2025, Toronto Police announced what Global News reported as the largest amount of cocaine the service has ever seized: 835 kilograms, with an estimated street value of about $83 million. Six people were arrested, four Canadians and two Mexican nationals, and three more arrest warrants were outstanding. Chief Myron Demkiw said the cocaine “is alleged to have the hallmarks of coming from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.”

That is the only statement found in which a Canadian police force itself ties a Canadian seizure to CJNG, and it is hedged twice: “alleged” and “hallmarks.” Police did not say how they reached that view. No outcome in the case has been found.

The Winnipeg Release

On May 20, 2026, the Winnipeg Police Service announced the largest illicit drug seizure in Manitoba’s history: 33 people arrested, 174 charges, and drugs with a street value above $37.2 million, including 339 kilograms of methamphetamine, 175 kilograms of cocaine and 11.25 kilograms of fentanyl. The release also reported four arrests by the Ontario Provincial Police, in Fort Frances and Dryden, with 26 kilograms of cocaine, which it described as part of the project but carried out independently.

The release said the network was “comprised of individuals with international ties associated to the upper echelon of Organized Crime in Canada including the Hells Angels, Wolfpack Alliance, and the Mexican Cartel.” Police did not name a cartel, did not name a supplier, and described those arrested as “associated” with the groups, not as members. See the Hells Angels and Wolfpack Alliance profiles for the two Canadian groups named.

The Labs

On October 31, 2024, the RCMP announced what it called the largest and most sophisticated drug superlab in Canada, at Falkland, British Columbia: 54 kilograms of fentanyl, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine and 89 firearms. Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, the only person charged so far, pleaded guilty in British Columbia Supreme Court in early September 2026, according to Global News. Sentencing is expected in early 2027.

The RCMP’s release quoted Assistant Commissioner David Teboul: “The P2P manufacturing method has been the primary method used by Mexican Cartels to produce methamphetamine for years.” That is a statement about a chemical method. It does not say a cartel ran or supplied the Falkland lab, and no police force or court has been found saying so.

The same caution applies to other Canadian releases that use cartel language without naming a group. Alberta’s ALERT, describing its Project Cerberus investigation, said suspects “had established ties to Mexican cartel(s)” and named no cartel.

What Washington Says

The broadest claims come from the United States, and they are political as well as evidentiary. A July 31, 2025 White House fact sheet, issued while raising tariffs on Canada, said: “Mexican cartels are increasingly operating fentanyl- and nitazene-synthesis labs in Canada.” No Canadian case in this report supports a claim that specific.

Canada’s legislative response includes Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, which received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026. The government’s release says it brings tougher penalties under the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime and amends the accelerated scheduling pathway that lets the Minister of Health control precursor chemicals.

What Has Not Been Found

Timeline

The Honest Assessment

The Canadian government’s position is that Mexican cartels are a threat serious enough to list as terrorist entities, and its police say they are active here. The public evidence for the specifics is thin and uneven.

What is on the record is narrow: the listing itself, a 2014 American case in which the DEA names Sinaloa, and a series of Canadian cases in which large quantities of drugs were seized. What is alleged comes mostly from American officials about one Canadian national, from one Toronto police chief’s hedged remark, and from Canadian police releases that use the word “cartel” as a description and not as an identification. Most of the rest is inference.

That does not mean the picture is wrong. Court proceedings in Toronto, Winnipeg and California may add detail. If a Canadian force, court or indictment attaches Sinaloa or CJNG to a Canadian case by name, this report will be updated.