A MEXICAN criminal sent to Sydney to oversee the distribution of a huge cocaine importation by one of the world's most violent drug cartels had his cover blown and ended up murdered and mutilated.

The man fled the country before Australian authorities smashed the operation of the Sinaloa cartel's drug operation in June last year, seizing 240 kilograms of cocaine and arresting four people.

Drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman ... more than 26,000 people have died in Mexico since 2006 due to the country's drug wars.

But he did not live long. His chopped-up remains were found in the boot of a car in Mexico, where the escalating drug wars have resulted in tens of thousands of violent deaths.

The gruesome murder has fuelled fears that the extreme violence used by the cartel may spread to Australia. The group's presence in the country is increasing and Mexicans here have quietly expressed concerns about the reach of the cartel considered one of the biggest, best-resourced and most ruthless in the world.