Thesaurus results for CARTELS

cartels

noun

plural of cartel

as in syndicates

a number of businesses or enterprises united for commercial advantage a cartel of oil-producing nations that controls production and influences prices

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cartels Whistleblowers and workers say these smuggling networks tie to cartels in Twin Cities trades, including roofing, with drug and gun trafficking. — Wcco Staff, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 To battle rival cartels or authorities, criminal groups sometimes convert the trucks into mutant tanks, adding heavy ballistic-proof steel plating, firing ports and gun mounts. — Steve Fisher special Correspondent follow, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026 The January indictment charged Maduro and several associates with participating in a narcoterrorism conspiracy involving Colombian guerrilla organizations, Mexican drug cartels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua criminal organization. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026 Trump’s draconian immigration measures have made recent deportees and asylum seekers alike easy targets for extortion, kidnapping, and occasionally recruitment by certain cartels along the US-Mexico border. — Daniel Peña, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026 There has been serious buzz recently about the film series focused on the United States conducting covert actions against drug cartels. — David Hookstead Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026 The best bill would include strong legal guardrails to prevent an organization from becoming anticompetitive or a shield for cartels. — William R. Gruver, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2026 Massive stockpiles of methamphetamine smuggled onto the islands by cartels have spurred a widespread addiction crisis, seen as a key driver of an HIV epidemic that Fiji recently declared a national emergency. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026 Big agriculture, private security firms, international drug cartels — all are choked out by Reacher’s big ol’ biceps. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cartels

Noun

Most crime syndicates were more welcoming to Korean recruits, for example, than mainstream corporations were.

— Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Ramaphosa announced that soldiers would be deployed to support police in tackling gang violence, as the government steps up its fight against criminal syndicates.

— Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of syndicates

Noun

The new company, headed up by David Ellison, son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison, is now one of the biggest media conglomerates in the country and is going by the name Skydance.

— Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2026
Its members are independent producers, with no studios, conglomerates or state bodies involved.

— Lin Ying-Hsuan, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of conglomerates

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cartels

carting

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“Cartels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cartels. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of cartels

noun

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