Mexican cartel responsible for decapitations and torture planning to flood Britain with cocaine

A brutal Mexican drug cartel responsible for decapitations and torture is planning to flood Britain's drug market with huge quantities of cocaine.

The Sinaloa cartel, led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, has reportedly made a pact with a Romanian crime gang who have control over goods lorries, allowing the cartel to operate in Britain on a large scale. 

The alliance with the infamous drug lords, often described as the largest and most powerful cartel in the western hemisphere, will increase fears over the level of security at the UK's borders.

The National Crime Agency has warned the unnamed Romanian gang is able to bring large quantities of cocaine to the UK on a weekly basis using HGV goods vehicles.

It is thought places such as Liverpool's docks and ports in Dover, Folkestone and Harwich are key entry points for smuggling in a large amount of cocaine through huge shipping containers. 

The group's leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has boldly escaped from maximum security prisons twice in Mexico and is currently awaiting trial in New York.

While links between Central American cartels and British crime syndicates are nothing new, the Sinaloa's brutal methods has caused concern over its influence on the increasingly violent British drugs trade. 

It is feared children are being used as mules to deliver drugs to rural areas from major cities.

A spokeswoman for the NCA’s drug threat team said: “In collaboration with international partners [the NCA] identified a Romanian organised crime group (OCG) with the capability to import large amounts of cocaine into the UK on a weekly basis using HGV transport.

“Intelligence indicates that the Romanian OCG are still being supplied by a Mexican OCG linked to the Sinaloa cartel. It is assessed that this network of OCGs will continue to supply large volumes of class A drugs into the UK.

“Previous significant interdictions of their supply has not deterred the group from continuing their criminal activity aimed at the UK market.”

It is estimated as much as 100 tonnes of cocaine is shipped to the country each year, but the majority is intercepted by law enforcement agencies. 

The NCA believes the Sinaloa cartel has been drawn to the UK because of its lucrative market, where customers are prepared to pay large sums for cocaine.