An estimated 22,000 Colombians are thought to be active in the drug trade. In addition, the Justice Department has identified about 300 Colombian trafficking groups operating in the United States, each headed by a Colombian manager. For over two decades the Colombian drug cartels have been the prototype of the large, international, vertically integrated drug trafficking groups. Colombian cartels are structured in what could be characterized as an onion-like layering of organizational power with kingpins at the center directing operations but insulated by layer upon layer of protective subordinate operatives. Nurturing and protecting this structure are the accountants, lawyers, chemists, and corrupt politicians who profit from it while never understanding the true scope of the operation.
Cartels operate much like legitimate businesses, being both highly flexible and pragmatic.
They expert in avoiding police surveillance. Information is tightly compartmentalized, and only a small number of cartel managers know all of the operatives. In 1990 Colombian cells were identified in 16 states. The magnitude of their operations became evident in two massive drug seizures. The other seizure was at a Harlingen, Texas, farmhouse where police found nine tons of cocaine.