The operation of the Sinaloa drug cartel and the transformation of drug jargon in northwest Mexico

This paper aims to establish a parallelism between the operation of the Sinaloa Cartel and the dynamics of lexical variation in the drug jargon in Mexico´s Northwest; specifically Baja California. This is manifested in two directions: first the transportation of drugs from the mountains of Sinaloa towards the border with the U.S. and, in an opposite direction, the transportation of money and guns from the U.S. to Sinaloa. This dynamic creates in Baja California a drug jargon that melts together words from Sinaloa and English loans.