The Medellín Cartel was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major "drug cartel" and was referred to as such due to the organization's upper echelons and overall power-structure being built on a partnership between multiple Colombian traffickers operating alongside Escobar. Other members included Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, Juan David Ochoa Vásquez, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, and Carlos Lehder. Escobar's main partner in the organization was his cousin Gustavo Gaviria, who handled much of the cartel's shipping arrangements and the more general and detailed logistical aspects of the cocaine trafficking routes and international smuggling networks, which were supplying at least 80% of the world's cocaine during its peak.
Nightshade is a superhero appearing in media published by DC Comics. Created by David Kaler and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Captain Atom #82 originally published by Charlton Comics.
Roy Harper is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Roy is one of DC's most longstanding characters, originating in 1940s comics as Speedy, the teen sidekick of the superheroes Green Arrow and Black Canary. Like his mentor Green Arrow, Roy is a world-class archer and athlete who uses his exceptional marksmanship to fight crime. Along with other prominent DC Comics superhero sidekicks, he goes on to become a core member of the superhero group the Teen Titans. As an adult, Roy casts off his Speedy identity to establish himself as the superhero Arsenal, and later takes on the name Red Arrow to symbolise his coming-of-age and having become an equal of Green Arrow as he joins the Justice League. In addition to continuing to serve on occasion as one of the Titans, Roy has had leading roles in the superhero groups the Seven Soldiers of Victory, the Outsiders, Checkmate, the Justice League, and the Outlaws.
Deathstroke is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, the character first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2 as Deathstroke the Terminator.
Jericho is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was originally a superhero, the son of Deathstroke, and a member of the Teen Titans during The New Teen Titans period by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Since the early 1990s Jericho has gone through periods of both sanity and insanity.
Hydra is a fictional terrorist organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Its name alludes to the mythical Lernaean Hydra, as does its motto: "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place," proclaiming the group's resilience and growing strength in the face of resistance. Originally a Nazi organization led by the Red Skull during World War II, Hydra is taken over and turned into a neo-fascist international crime syndicate by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Hydra agents often wear distinctive green garb featuring a serpent motif. Hydra's plans for world domination are regularly foiled by Marvel Universe superheroes and the intelligence organization S.H.I.E.L.D.
The League of Assassins is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The group is depicted as a collective of assassins who work for Ra's al Ghul, an enemy of the superhero Batman. The group appeared in Strange Adventures #215, but did not become officially known as the League of Assassins until Detective Comics #405.
Cheshire is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics. She is a long-standing rival of the superhero team, the Teen Titans, and occasional love interest of Roy Harper and Thomas Blake.
Los Zetas is a Mexican criminal syndicate, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscriminate murder. While primarily concerned with drug trafficking, the organization also ran profitable sex and gun rackets. Los Zetas also operated through protection rackets, assassinations, extortion, kidnappings and other illegal activities. The organization was based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, directly across the border from Laredo, Texas. The origins of Los Zetas date back to the late 1990s, when commandos of the Mexican Army deserted their ranks and began working as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel. In February 2010, Los Zetas broke away and formed their own criminal organization, rivalling the Gulf Cartel.
Checkmate, a division of Task Force X, is a fictional covert operations agency appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The antihero team first appeared in Action Comics #598 and proceeded to have its own ongoing title in Checkmate! In the wake of events depicted in the mini-series The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis, Checkmate is re-chartered as a United Nations Security Council-affiliated agency and was again given its own series, Checkmate.
Baron Blitzkrieg is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Black Spider is the name of several supervillains and assassins appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most characters who operated under the alias are depicted as both lesser renown adversaries of Batman and a member of various super-villain organizations.
The Mexican drug war, known also as Calderón's war is an ongoing asymmetric armed conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking syndicates. When the Mexican military intervened in 2006, the government's main objective was to reduce drug-related violence. The Mexican government has asserted that their primary focus is dismantling the cartels and preventing drug trafficking. The conflict has been described as the Mexican theater of the global war on drugs, as led by the United States federal government.
Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez is a former Mexican drug lord and top leader of the criminal drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. He was among Mexico's most-wanted drug lords, until his arrest in 2012.
A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss in charge of a drug trafficking network, organization, or enterprise.
La Línea is currently the leading faction of the Juárez Cartel originally designed to be one of the cartel's enforcer units set up by a number of former and active-duty policemen, heavily armed and extensively trained in urban warfare. Their corrupt "line" of policemen were set up to protect drug traffickers, but after forming an alliance with Barrio Azteca to fight off the forces of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2008, they established a foothold in Ciudad Juárez as the enforcement wing of the Juárez cartel. La Línea has also been involved in extortions and kidnappings. As of 2021, La Línea has formed an alliance with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Ciudad Juárez to fight off influence and incursions from the Sinaloa Cartel.
Rafael Cárdenas Vela is a former Mexican drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel. He is the nephew of Antonio and Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, two men who at one time led the criminal organization.
