Thesaurus results for CARTELS

cartels

noun

plural of cartel

as in syndicates

a number of businesses or enterprises united for commercial advantage a cartel of oil-producing nations that controls production and influences prices

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cartels In decades past, a state in central Mexico would be the likely source of the most immigrants, but cartels have waged bloody battles in Chiapas over the last decade as criminal groups fought to control lucrative drug trafficking and migrant smuggling routes from Guatemala into Mexico. —

Steve Fisher, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2026 But deeper cooperation to target cartels is necessary. —

Editorial, Boston Herald, 15 Mar. 2026 His death led to widespread unrest in Jalisco — which is home to popular tourist destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara — and other states, as the cartels conducted retaliatory attacks that lasted several days, but have left travelers feeling shaken. —

Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 14 Mar. 2026 Along with ongoing military tension with Mexican drug cartels. —

John Scott Lewinski, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026 Others are here because their parents are seeking refuge from countries where violence is rampant and children are at risk of being forced into drug cartels, human trafficking or worse. —

Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2026 Foreign terrorist groups would already have to be deemed as such by the federal government, such as al-Qaida, ISIS and various drug cartels. —

Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2026 Attorney General Pam Bondi was quietly and quickly moved to secure military housing amid threats from drug cartels and critics over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to a report. —

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2026 Her father’s dinner-table stories about cartels and his reaction to her character smoking cigarettes became some of the film’s most endearing moments. —

Clayton Davis, Variety, 9 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cartels

Noun

Carlsen noted that funds from both IT worker schemes and crypto heists frequently end up with Chinese brokers tied to organized-crime syndicates.

— Lisa Cavazuti, NBC news, 15 Mar. 2026
Recent Mexican history is riddled with the tales of once-powerful syndicates — gangs in Guadalajara, Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, among them — that ruptured, were gobbled up by other mobs or petered out as the big guys were captured or killed.

— Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026