Yes they are. From the streets of Compton to cells of San Quintin/Folsom and then back to the barrios of East LA and then on to Northern California when the shacks in the barrios were bringing $350K in California's sellers market making their owners relatively wealthy and mobile.
More:
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Small-time entrepreneurs have been joined by drug gangs, many from Mexico.
"This is about big, big money," says John Gaines, a special agent. "This is about making a profit, taking the profit out of the United States, taking it back to Mexico. This is organized crime, bottom line." ---snip
http://election.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/02/05/60II/main269478.shtml
In October, Gaines and officers from the state narcotics bureau finished a three-year investigation that culminated in the arrests of 41 people, all allegedly working for the Maganyas, a Mexican crime family. The Maganyas have realized over five years a profit estimated at $40 million to $50 million, he says.