Three US states have seen separate large, Mexican-led narcotics rings either busted, indicted, or sentenced in the last thirty days. The three states–Idaho, Oregon, and Alabama–each had large methamphetamine operations being led by Mexican nationals in their rural counties. One of the cases involved US citizens operating under the leadership of the Mexican nationals.

The recent cases came after Texas officials sounded the alarm in 2012 when an Aryan Brotherhood member was arrested as part of a large methamphetamine operation that was led by the Mexican Gulf cartel. The Texas case indicated that Mexican cartels were now willing to enlist the assistance of US gangs to distribute narcotics for them on the US side of the border, rather than simply sell their drugs to smugglers. The Sacramento, California case indicates the Sinaloa cartel has now begun staking claim to territories within the US.