But the drug money funds them and funds them well. It's just too lucrative. That money comes from the illegality of the inelastic demand product. You don't see people cutting off heads for the cigarette or alcohol trade.
The cartels are only powerful because they have the money to be powerful. I can't imagine selling organs would be nearly as lucrative.
I mean Pablo Escobar was worth $30 billion dollars in 1993, which is around $51 billion today. For reference, Gates is worth around $86 billion, and Gates operates within the law while Escobar could buy off entire countries and was, for the longest time, immune from real prosecution. You can't buy that by selling organs.