>>17628681The answer is simple, cartels are just violent criminals driven by Martial goods, while isis members fight for allah and 67 wives or something. cartels outnumber isis also if isis fought in Mexico jungle they gonna become gored or something. But if it was an open desert isis is winning by a mine. isis at it peak hand tanks suicide drones, they even owned antiaircraft systems.
ISIS at its peak wins. While Mexican cartels have more money and manpower, ISIS operates as a fanatical, heavy-armored quasi-military force (with tanks and artillery) designed for conventional warfare, whereas cartels are profit-driven criminal enterprises that would ultimately fracture under sustained, high-intensity conflict.