Cartels typically internally hardline condem hostile (ex: shootouts in the U.S. or harm towards U.S. personnel in Central/South America) action w/ the U.S..
Regardless the U.S. administration in office, the hammer drops on <insert cartel> border crossing locations enter overtime x3, BORTAC/SRT teams enter overdrive on <insert cartel> routes for trafficking their crap that screwed up Amsricans keep demanding, and DEA's SOD / other alphabet agencies put the pedal to the floor within Mexico/ S. America and slam on them relentlessly, none the less in the U.S. with additional State LE overtime focused effort on "that cartel". This doesn't take into account the sudden hard hitting political arm twisting against the foreign govt.
It's a screwed up setting in some regards as it displays how much *can be stopped though it exhausts manpower and that creates exposure. It creates an unwritten acceptance of trafficking in exchange the cartel wars stay in their countries and acceptable cartel losses are part of the common trafficking equation.
On the other-side, Zeta, Sinaloan, Gulf, Juarez, etc typically mutilate, hang from bridges, turn over to Mexican govt for extradition and other notable settings, the person(s) on their payroll that caused millions of $$$ impact loss on their operations, because those involved couldnt keep their crap together and brought the U.S. government spotlight upon <insert cartel>.
It's an unwritten check and balance of organized criminal operations and the U.S. govt. And with a Trump administration, even more so as his election directly ties to enforcement on border / foreign criminal operations.
Meh, morning musing.
