what's the difference?

The mafia is Italian

The Cartel is Columbian

The Yakuza is Japanmese

Sorry that is the limit of my understanding garnered from a few movies.

A cartel is a "coalition" of several independent groups which consolidate to raise profits and minimize risks through the establishment of a monopoly.  

The Mafia is a kind of organized crime being active not only in several illegal fields, but also tending to exercise sovereignty functions – normally belonging to public authorities – over a specific territory.  

Better movies are made about the mafia
than about cartels.

"Leave the gun. Take the flan."
just doesn't have the same ring to it... 

Very good.  Thank you.

I have a co-worker from mexico.  Her last name is Guzman.  As you all know, "Shorty Guzman" is a very powerful man in the Mexican Drug cartel.   Needless to say we tease her that she is related to Shorty.

She is taking her child to visit her hometown for the first time later this year, so we got to talking about being careful because of the drug cartels.  Then she tells us a story of a relative who was doing some remodeling on their home in Mexico.  this guy was approached by a group asking for payment to insure safe construction etc.. or someone might get hurt...  We thought that might be extortion from the Mafia, then we decided we didn't know the difference between the Cartel and the Mafia.

Probably still extortion from a cartel.  Since we live in SA so close to Mexico, our news is literally 30 min. of what is going on in Mexico, especially Juarez.  Apparently they have started increasing the number of kidnappings from El Paso of Americans for ransom.  The number of deaths there is just staggering from the cartels.  

WOw.  It's crazy to me..  I've lived in the safety of the midwest (Central, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri) my entire life.  Some of the stories I see are really scary...

I can't recall the Mafia chopping off the heads, hands and feet of 40+ random "civilians" and dumping their bodies in the street to warn others. 

Therefore, the Mexican Cartels are much more dangerous in my mind. 

Perhaps not the smartest move, you know, just in case she is :-)