The Salazar Cartel

The @Salazar Cartel is the most feared and sophisticated criminal empire in the modern world — a sprawling network of drug lords, assassins, and quirk-enhanced enforcers who control the global flow of Trigger, the infamous performance-enhancing substance that amplifies a user’s Quirk by tenfold while eroding sanity, judgment, and restraint.

Operating across both Americas, the Cartel’s shadow stretches from the jungles of South America to the @United States Of America skyscrapers of New York City.
Their reach penetrates every layer of society — politics, law enforcement, and even elements of the Heroes League itself.

Origins: The Narco Nations

The Salazar legacy began in 2042, deep in the fractured territories of South America, during the collapse of multiple governments torn apart by Quirk-based warfare.
A warlord named Don Ernesto Salazar, a visionary with a Quirk known as “Chemical Communion,” could manipulate and weaponize any substance he touched — from narcotics to neurotoxins.

Through terror and diplomacy, Salazar united dozens of rival cartels under one banner, transforming them into a paramilitary syndicate that overthrew local governments and established semi-autonomous Narco Nations — territories ruled entirely by cartel families.

From these territories, the Salazar Cartel became not just a drug empire, but a sovereign power, controlling trade, currency, and production with the efficiency of a modern state.

By the 2050s, they had gone global — embedding agents and front companies into major cities across North America, Europe, and Asia.

The Trigger Trade

At the center of their empire lies @Trigger, the most dangerous and addictive substance in modern history.

Originally developed as a black-market enhancement for Quirk soldiers during the Quirk Wars of the 2030s, Trigger was perfected and monopolized by the Salazar Cartel in the 2050s.

Effect: Increases Quirk potency by 1,000% for 10 minutes.
Cost: Severe neural and hormonal damage; prolonged use leads to irreversible insanity and violent mania.
Form: Injectables, inhalers, and subdermal capsules.
Street Name: Red Rush, Fiend Fuel, or The Spark.

Trigger became the ultimate weapon — and addiction — for soldiers, villains, and even rogue heroes.
Entire cities have fallen to Trigger epidemics, and the Salazar Cartel maintains its dominance by controlling both supply and dependency.

Structure and Hierarchy

The Salazar Cartel operates more like a multinational corporation than a street gang.
Its internal hierarchy is rigid, built around family loyalty and absolute obedience.

1. The Salazar Family (“La Sangre”)

At the top sits Don Alejandro Salazar, grandson of Ernesto and current “President” of the Narco Nations.
Educated in politics and economics, Alejandro has turned the cartel into a quasi-government, complete with its own currency, flag, and military police.
His personal bodyguards, known as Los Diez Dientes (The Ten Teeth), are rumored to possess Quirks powerful enough to rival pro heroes.

2. The Council of Clans

A governing board of regional bosses who oversee operations across continents.
Each clan specializes in a specific trade:

Medellín Clan – Trigger production and chemical refinement.
Sombra Clan – Espionage and political bribery.
Guerrero Clan – Weapons and technology smuggling.
Culebra Clan – Human trafficking and assassination contracts.

3. Street Arm (La Mano Roja)

The cartel’s public face in the United States — composed of street gangs, dealers, and freelance enforcers.
La Mano Roja operates in major cities like Los Angeles, Houston, and Miami, ensuring constant revenue flow and maintaining the cartel’s dominance in the underworld.

Symbols and Aesthetic

Members of the Salazar Cartel wear black and crimson attire, often accented with gold serpent insignias — a nod to their founder’s belief that “the serpent rules from the shadows.”

Their official emblem is the “Black Mamba” — a black snake coiled around a vial of red Trigger.
The cartel’s motto, often inscribed on tattoos or carved into weapons, reads:

Every Narco Nation flies a tricolor flag of crimson, green, and black, representing Blood, Wealth, and Power.

Relations and Reach

With the U.S. Government: Officially enemies, but secretly tolerated in some regions where their trade stabilizes economies and maintains uneasy peace.
With the @Heroes League of America: The HLA has declared the Salazar Cartel a Class-A Global Threat, though several investigations have uncovered bribed or blackmailed heroes working as silent protectors of cartel routes.
With the @The New Yankees: A transactional alliance. The Cartel supplies Trigger and weaponry in exchange for military-grade resources and access to occupied territories.
With the Hero Network: Both a source and target of stories — the cartel uses HN leaks and propaganda to intimidate rivals or discredit law enforcement.

Influence in America

By 2075, the Salazar Cartel has become a shadow government in several U.S. cities, thriving amid the chaos of the Civil War.
In divided territories, they pose as “neutral suppliers,” dealing to both sides — profiting from the same conflict they help sustain.

Entire communities rely on cartel-run clinics, security, and trade — turning the organization into a perverse form of local governance.
To some, they are monsters; to others, they are survival itself.

Current Status

The Salazar Cartel remains untouchable.
Attempts by the HLA, DEA-Hero Division, and FBI Meta Crimes Unit to dismantle them have failed repeatedly, as every captured lieutenant is replaced by another — often a relative or loyalist raised from childhood.

Rumors persist of a new initiative within the cartel known as Project Escarlata, an experiment to create a permanent, stable Trigger mutation capable of granting users permanent enhancement without side effects — effectively manufacturing artificial gods.

If successful, it could tip the balance of the ongoing Civil War — or ignite a global one.