Warzone 2: Where to find the cartel and contraband packages

Call of Duty: Warzone 2 Cartel Investigation - new season three skin
(Image credit: Activision)

The Warzone 2 Cartel Investigation is one of the new Redacted faction missions for DMZ that was introduced in season three. While it's not quite as tricky as killing the Scavenger and finding his calling cards, it can be tough to locate the cartel on a map as expansive as Al Mazrah.

To complete this DMZ mission, you're going to have to find them and steal some Large Contraband Packages before escaping to extraction with the loot. So, here's where to find the cartel on the map, and where to locate the packages you can steal.

Where to find the cartel and Large Contraband Packages 

The Cartel Investigation mission requires you to find the new gang in Al Mazrah, kill five of their foot soldiers, and steal two Large Contraband Packages before extraction. You can find the cartel in the Hafid Port area in the west of the map, towards the south-east end by the UAV tower, where they'll be hanging out in the open by the warehouse buildings. They're actually a lot better to kill than the regular Al Mazrah soldiers as they aren't armoured, and carry better weapons to loot like M16s and LMGs. 

Once you've killed five of them, you need to grab two Large Contraband Packages. The best place to find these random items is on shelves and tables inside the nearby port buildings—they basically look like big cardboard boxes with blue corners. It might take a little while as you rummage through rooms, but you'll find a few lying around. After you've grabbed two of them, simply head to extraction to complete the faction mission. 

It's worth noting that I encountered a bug with this mission where I got downed and changed teams, and it didn't count me extracting the packages despite having them in my inventory, so maybe play it safe if you don't want to have to do it again.

Sean Martin
Senior Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

Read more
Sniper Elite Resistance propaganda posters
Where to find Sniper Elite: Resistance's propaganda posters to unlock Propaganda mode
The Barrow-Dyad exotic SMG.
How to unlock the Barrow-Dyad exotic in Destiny 2
black ops 6 safe codes
All Black Ops 6 safe code locations and solutions in the campaign
Avowed Mapping the Living Lands cartographer locations - An upper-body image of Sanza looking ahead.
All Mapping the Living Lands Cartographer locations in Avowed
KCD 2 Vidlak Bandit's Map - Henry reading map
Vidlak Bandit's Map solution in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Marika location - A man sitting down inside a tent, surrounded by clutter.
Where to find Marika in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Latest in Call of Duty
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Ghost, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), looks bleakly at a fellow passenger in a transport.
For COD’s sake: One player’s 763-day legal quest to make Activision unban their account ends in total success: ‘Worth the effort’
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in Features
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
Several tight-wearing superheroes surge towards the camera in a heroic fashion in City of Heroes.
One year later, City of Heroes' officially recognized fan server has me praying it's the future of dead MMOs
Immortal Pillars expansion for Age of Mythology: Retold
Age of Mythology Retold's new Chinese pantheon expansion takes a bold stance on updating an old game: Just make good new stuff
Ragnarok Battle Offline
After punishing my graphics card with Monster Hunter Wilds, I've returned to the rock-solid frame rates of my old hunting grounds: Windows XP
Ghoul in sunglasses
I'm convinced being a ghoul in Fallout 76 is the best way to vibe in West Virginia, thanks to these powerful perk cards and my new true love: Radiation
Steel Hunters hands-on
Steel Hunters is like a more tactical Titanfall, but as an extraction shooter it's undermined by boring loot