Sounds like you're unfamiliar with the handiwork of the House of Saud, or Vladimir Putin. Both of them have a very high body count and list of atrocities done in the name of oil revenues.
Russia isn't a member of OPEC but they still work with them. The oil cartels don't exactly have the same egregious violence that the drug cartels are known for, it's a bit different but the Saudis do have their own way of influencing the region.