The article focuses on placing the contemporary drug cartels in a global network of links threatening the security of the state, its institutions, and citizens. The authors develop perspective described in an earlier article about this subject. They define the essential features and activities of the most important Latin American cartels and their participation in criminal activities in the United States and in Europe. Some of the operational mechanisms and operational patterns of these transnational criminal organizations have also been described and analyzed. The cartels are as dangerous as the terrorist groups, and their possibilities of crime exploitation in every possible area, including cooperation with terrorist groups, enables them to interfere in political life and state security.