In 2025, the global illegal drug trade operates as a $500–$1 trillion shadow corporation, more efficient than most Fortune 500 companies: cartels like Sinaloa and CJNG run Walmart-style supply chains and McDonald’s-style franchises, turning $2,000 of coca leaf or pennies-worth of Chinese fentanyl precursors into $30,000–$50,000 street value with 80–90% margins. Using encrypted apps, narco-subs, dark-web retail, and trade-based money laundering, they generate billions while diversifying into fuel theft, human smuggling, and extortion. Despite U.S. terror designations, record seizures, and the new U.S.–El Salvador mega-prison deal, the business model remains brutally resilient: low fixed costs, endless demand, and the ability to replace any arrested kingpin overnight. As one viral post put it, “We’re not fighting gangs; we’re fighting the most profitable multinational on earth.”