When you are knee-deep in shows like Narcos, it is easy to forget that the mythos of the cartel era was supposed to be something relegated to history books and grainy VHS footage, that the age of larger-than-life kingpins was a closed chapter. But the recent announcement that one of the world’s most wanted drug traffickers, Mexican cartel boss El Mencho, has been killed by security forces has rippled shockwaves beyond the headlines.

And just as the dust settles in Jalisco and across the cartel world, Netflix fans have done what we do best: they are searching to see if this real-world drama has already gotten its own series. 

No, there is currently no series on Netflix specifically about El Mencho. Despite the wildfire of interest El Mencho’s life and death have sparked online, Netflix has not produced a dramatized or documentary series centered on Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (aka El Mencho), the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The 59-year-old cartel boss was central to building one of Mexico’s most powerful and feared criminal organisations. 

El Mencho’s cartel was not just another syndicate; it transformed the landscape of Mexican organized crime in the past decade, becoming synonymous with audacious confrontations, horrific public spectacles, and brutal territorial wars. 

If you live for the tension of cartel politics, the human cost of drug empires, and the kinetic grammar of organized crime storytelling, Netflix has plenty of certified hits to keep you glued through long binges.

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Below are some of the most engaging, high-caliber drama series that cover drug cartels, crime syndicates, moral corrosion, and the often tragic intersection of power and addiction.

When Narcos premiered in 2015, it reset the grammar of drug-war television. Chronicling the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel, the series blended archival footage with dramatization, creating a quasi-documentarian aesthetic that felt dangerously authentic. Wagner Moura’s Escobar is neither a caricature nor a hero; he is a political opportunist navigating Colombia’s fractured institutions while flooding the United States with cocaine.

What elevates Narcos beyond genre convention is its procedural patience. DEA agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal) are not invincible crusaders; they are bureaucrats wading through corruption, informants, and diplomatic compromise. The show’s bilingual structure and historical framing give it weight, making it essential viewing for anyone serious about cartel lore.

 Created by Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad remains the gold standard of drug-trade character studies. Bryan Cranston’s Walter White transforms from an underpaid chemistry teacher to a methamphetamine manufacturer in a meticulously structured moral descent. The show’s Albuquerque setting becomes an arid metaphor for spiritual drought. Unlike cartel epics that focus on empire, Breaking Bad narrows its lens to ego. Walter’s empire is built not purely on profit but on wounded pride. The series’ precise plotting and visual symbolism influenced an entire generation of prestige television.

If Narcos was about excess, Narcos: Mexico is about infrastructure. The series tracks the consolidation of power under Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, played with unnerving restraint by Diego Luna. This is the origin story of the modern Mexican drug trade, the moment disparate plazas became a coordinated federation.

  Created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, Ozark reframes cartel storytelling through suburban capitalism. Jason Bateman’s Marty Byrde is not a kingpin; he is a financial technician whose expertise in laundering money makes him indispensable to a Mexican cartel. Relocating to Missouri’s lake country, he builds a shadow economy beneath fishing docks and family resorts.  

Initially airing in the UK before Netflix revived it, Top Boy shifts the drug narrative to London’s Hackney estates. Created by Ronan Bennett, the series focuses on Dushane and Sully, mid-level operators navigating turf wars, shifting alliances, and generational poverty.

 Adapted from Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel La Reina del Sur, this series follows Teresa Mendoza’s ascent after her boyfriend, a cartel pilot, is murdered. Alice Braga plays Teresa with steely intelligence, charting her transformation from survivor to strategist. It’s a rare drug saga centered on female authority, examining how power is accumulated in a male-dominated underworld.

This Spanish-language drama chronicles the life of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, tracing his climb within the Sinaloa Cartel and his eventual imprisonment. Portrayed by Marco de la O, El Chapo is shown as disciplined, calculating, and politically entangled. It explores prison escapes, political corruption, and cartel rivalries with a matter-of-fact tone that appeals to viewers seeking historical fidelity over spectacle.

Starring Sofía Vergara in a dramatic pivot, Griselda examines the life of Griselda Blanco, the Colombian ‘Cocaine Godmother’ who built a Miami empire in the 1970s and ’80s. Developed by Eric Newman (of Narcos fame), the series carries similar tonal DNA.

Vergara’s performance foregrounds ambition and maternal complexity, portraying Blanco as both ruthless operator and protective parent. 

For viewers craving nonfiction, Dope strips away dramatization. The docuseries follows dealers, users, and law enforcement in real time, exposing the supply-and-demand machinery sustaining global narcotics markets. Its cinéma vérité style emphasizes systemic forces, addiction, poverty, and enforcement policy rather than mythologizing kingpins. 

Also known as Braqueurs, this French thriller merges heist cinema with narcotics turf wars. It follows a skilled robber forced into alliance with a drug-running family after a deal spirals out of control. Visually kinetic and tightly paced, Ganglands demonstrates how drug money intersects with broader organized crime networks across Europe. 

Even if El Mencho himself has not yet received his own series, the streaming platform’s vaults offer enough cartel chaos to fill countless weekends.

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What’s your favorite drug crime show to binge on Netflix? Share your thoughts!