Just how active the cartel is north of the border is a divisive question.
Fighting cartels is hard.
On Dec. 16, navy special forces killed Arturo Beltr Leyva, the leader of a powerful cartel active in Mexico's central states.
Cartels active in Colombia, where much of the region's cocaine is produced, have connections with politicians, military officers and others throughout the area to assist them in getting drugs and drug profits out, whether on small planes or boats.
He knew that Mexican cartels were active in sex trafficking up and down I-5, the main west coast freeway that passes just a few miles from the Papinis' house.
According to one study, the Sinaloa cartel is now active in more than fifty countries.
Investigators say Mexico's largest and most lucrative drug cartel has remained active around the world, from Australia to Italy, even after Guzman's latest capture in 2014.
Zeron also noted that "hundreds" of independent cartel cells are still active.
Investigative reports by journalists in El Salvador suggest the Texis cartel may have been active since the early '90s, though it remained under the radar until recently.
A further contributory factor to the growth of cartels aided by the active complicity of the political system is Reagan's other war, the one in Central America.
