A car accident in Rockwood, Tennessee, in 2019 sparked a major U.S. investigation that culminated in Justice Department indictments against five leaders and enforcers of Mexico’s United Cartels, a rival to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The probe began when two drug dealers, fleeing the crash, discarded a case filled with methamphetamine, leading authorities to uncover a large drug trafficking operation.

Through wiretaps, surveillance, and searches, investigators linked the drugs to Eladio Mendoza, who was running a drug ring in Atlanta. A subsequent police encounter resulted in a shootout, with a low-level dealer firing at officers before being apprehended, revealing meth and heroin.

Further searches uncovered 850 kilograms of meth hidden in a tractor trailer from Mexico, along with additional drugs. Mendoza, who fled to Mexico, was later killed by cartel leaders. The investigation exposed the United Cartels’ operations, which control Michoacan, Mexico, and produce significant amounts of methamphetamine, leading to their designation as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

The U.S. is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of the cartel’s leader, Juan José Farías Álvarez, known as “El Abuelo,” and multimillion-dollar rewards for the others, all believed to be in Mexico.