Sumith Prasad
In the second season of Paramount+’s thriller series ‘Lioness,’ also known as ‘Special Ops: Lioness,’ Joe McNamara’s Lioness program identifies the Mexican cartel called “Los Tigres” as the next target. The criminal organization, which is also called the Chihuahua and Coahuila Cartel, becomes involved in the kidnapping of Congresswoman Hernandez, a high-ranking politician, exposing themselves to the CIA. Joe chooses Josephina Carillo, the niece of the group’s leader, Alvaro Carillo, to infiltrate the cartel. Since there are several similar organizations based in Mexico, Los Tigres may appear real or as a counterpart to an actual cartel in the country. However, that’s not really the case!
Los Tigres is a Fictional Cartel That Represents the Criminal Organizations in Mexico
Los Tigres, or the Chihuahua and Coahuila Cartel, does not exist in real life. The criminal organization is a fictional entity conceived by Taylor Sheridan, the creator of ‘Lioness,’ as the main antagonist of the second season. There is a band named Los Tigres del Norte, which originated from Sinaloa, Mexico, but the renowned norteño music group has no connection with cartels. In reality, no one criminal organization represents the Chihuahua and Coahuila regions of Mexico. Having said that, several cartels have made their presence known in these areas over the years. Los Zetas is similar to Los Tigres because of the name and the organization’s presence in the state of Coahuila.
In the spy thriller series, Los Tigres is introduced as one of the major players in the Mexican-American drug scene. That is the reason why Joe decides to choose Josephina Carillo as a Lioness since she can join the criminal organization as a pilot to drop drugs across the border. In reality, the distinction is also given to Los Zetas, which is identified as one of the most dangerous drug cartels in Mexico. The organization’s membership count is estimated to be somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000, with unignorable presence in Coahuila. According to The Economist, Los Zetas targeted the city of Allende in Coahuila in 2011, believing that two local men had turned against them.
The cartel then reportedly abducted hundreds of people associated with the two men and destroyed their houses. As per estimates, around 300-500 were killed in the region linked to this incident. According to the Mexican authorities, the cartel was also behind a prison break in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, in 2012. Around 130 inmates walked out of prison in broad daylight, which displays the power the cartel has in the region. When it comes to Chihuahua, the most prominent criminal organization in the state has to be the Juárez Cartel, a fierce rival of the Sinaloa Cartel. The organization was founded in Ciudad Juárez in Chihuahua, and it controlled a major share of the cocaine traffic from Mexico into the United States.
It is estimated that the conflicts between the Juárez and Sinaloa cartels in Chihuahua have caused the deaths of thousands of individuals in the state. These examples show how these organizations are rooted in Chihuahua and Coahuila, as Los Tigres is in the thriller series.
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