In the Mexican War on Drugs, the word, “cartel” gets thrown around a lot. The Sinaloa Cartel; The Gulf Cartel; La Famillia; Los Zetas. But who actually are these organisations which have inflicted grotesque violence on Mexico – and made billions of dollars in the process? How did they grow from small smuggling gangs, to mighty empires – and then splinter into separate factions each fighting one another? And, crucially, what role did the War on Drugs itself play in making this violence inevitable? Watch more from this series: The Deadliest Cartel in Mexico www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cm9ELLR8ds The Media Lies About Drugs www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSzcm7JPoI&t=1s The Reality of Legalizing Cocaine, Heroin, and Ecstasy www.youtube.com/watch?v=haT4FrOYPtk Click here to subscribe to VICE: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com More videos from the VICE network: www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/vice The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: www.youtube.com/VICE MUNCHIES: www.youtube.com/MUNCHIES VICE News: www.youtube.com/VICENews VICELAND: www.youtube.com/VICELANDTV Broadly: www.youtube.com/Broadly Noisey: www.youtube.com/Noisey Motherboard: www.youtube.com/MotherboardTV VICE Sports: www.youtube.com/NOC i-D: www.youtube.com/iDmagazine Waypoint: www.youtube.com/WaypointVICE