One person was hospitalized after three vehicles were swallowed Thursday morning by a large sinkhole on Chicago's South Side, officials said.

A circa-1915 city water main broke under more than five inches of heavy rain across the area, causing the sinkhole to rip open around 5:20 a.m. in the South Deering neighborhood, Chicago Police spokesman Mike Sullivan said.

Police said the injured person was driving in the 9600 block of South Houston Avenue when the road caved. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Two cars were inside the hole when fire crews arrived. A third car, which was parked, slid into the hole after they arrived.

Flooding has cause multiple road closures, including two major expressways, throughout the area. About 300 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport and dozens of schools were closed.

The Illinois Department of Transportation urged commuters who take expressways into work to consider staying home. Two more inches of rain is expected throughout the day as area rivers continue to swell and neighborhoods flood.

Could illegal stop signs be popping up in your neighborhood?

Someone in Point Loma put up signs without the city's knowledge last summer. Locals woke up one morning and found that two yield signs had been replaced with unofficial stop signs.

City officials said they didn't do it, but now they're in the middle of a neighborhood fight.

“I think it's interesting that someone had the audacity to put up signs to suit their own needs,” said Don Farnsworth, who lives in Point Loma.

He doesn't know who put them up and neither does the city. But Farnsworth wants them gone.

The neighborhood is divided over what to do now, because some say the unauthorized signs protect walkers and families with little kids.

"And when the stop signs were put in, we've noticed a reduction of speed on the street, there have been fewer cars, it really has felt a lot safer,” said Point Loma resident Van Thaxton.

The city's traffic department says stop signs are not warranted based on their criteria. Fearing the signs would go away immediately, some homeowners turned to the local planning group with a petition.

It worked, but because of traffic rules - the city had to add another sign. Now there are an abundance of signs that are often ignored.

"It's a nuisance to stop at all these stop signs, there's five signs here, you could throw a rock and hit five different stop signs here,” said Farnsworth.

But, Thaxton says it's better than the yield signs.

“They don't know that a yield sign means slow down almost to a stop and make sure no one else is coming, they almost don’t see a yield sign and blow right through it,” he said.

Farnsworth and others say due process wasn't followed and planning group was fooled by the petition to keep the stop signs because most of the signatures were from other communities.

“They were from Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Chula Vista, and that got my interest,” he said.

Thaxton said the signs help keep kids safe.

"If someone has a problem stopping for 3 seconds to protect the safety of small children, I don't understand that,” he said.
 

High school graduation numbers have been released, and the second worst numbers in San Diego County came from Grossmont Union High School District.

Officials said it's the district's huge refugee population that's dropping out in large numbers.

But refugee children and the social workers who help them claim they're being asked to leave.

Many refugees come to America with the dream of getting an education and being successful, but they never thought they would be asked to leave local public schools before graduating.

Lubna Moshi's family fled a war torn Iraq, spent time in a refugee camp in Turkey, and then came to the United States two years ago.

After enrolling in El Cajon Valley High School, she said she and many others were told to leave because she did not have enough credits to get her diploma.

“They said, ‘You're age is almost 18 and you cannot stay in high school,’” she said. "I tell the counselor, 'Let me stay,' she said, 'No.'"

Refugee dropout rate is the reason Grossmont Union High School District says their graduation rates are down to nearly 77 percent, the second lowest in the county.

State figures released between 2007 and 2012, nearly 10,000 Iraqi refugees came to El Cajon with their children going to local schools, some with little or no English.

Social worker Besma Coda says this is common among refugee children.

“Either they will be kicked out of the school before the school's end or they will drop out of the school when they turn 18,” she said.

Officials at El Cajon Valley High School were unable to comment to NBC 7 but the Grossmont Union High School District says students are not asked to leave and many other options are available.

“I think there may have been a miscommunication in that conversation, because we do provide support for students who are 19 through our adult education program and the student would be allowed to transition,” said Ralf Swenson with the Grossmont Union High School District.

Social workers say the refugees don't go to adult schools in the district because of long waiting lists. Instead they go to Diego Valley Charter School which opened this month, accepting students from age 14 to 24. The school gives refugees a chance to earn a high school diploma at pace they can handle.

Nearly 10 students, social workers and parents maintained to NBC 7 that they were asked to leave.

The district and social workers say there are many other refugees are successful in school and are able to pass high school exit exams.

The annual commemoration of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco had a last-minute change Thursday morning when San Francisco police moved the event because of a black backpack they thought was suspicious.

MORE: 1906 Earthquake Commemoration to Continue Without Survivors

With the nation on edge after the Boston Marathon twin explosions on Monday, police were taking no chances when a security guard spotted  a man in a dark-hooded jacket leave a backpack on the ground near 700 Market Street at 2:47 a.m. and just leave, Police Chief Greg Suhr said.

The city's bomb squad was called in and investigated for about two hours, finally deeming the backpack safe. Turned out, the pack was filled with papers, Suhr said.

But in the meantime, the city ended up moving the annual 5: 11 a.m. earthquake commemoration remembering the earthquake that rocked the city and killed 3,000 people was moved several blocks away from Lotta's Fountain to Union Square, which was held about 5:30 a.m.

Still, many came out in costume to honor the tragic time in history, despite the scare and change, though this was the first year no survivors of the quake attended the ceremony.

Not to abandon all tradition, city officials laid a wreath on Lotta's Fountain at 6:30 a.m. when all the bomb trucks had cleared.

The epidemic that has so far caused 1,193 ailing sea lion pups to wash ashore in Southern California since January seems to be slowing down, according to marine mammal experts.

Sarah Wilkin, the California marine mammal stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said on Wednesday that the change has occurred in recent days.

"For a couple of months, it was more like ten a day," said Wilkin. "Now we are down to three or four."
The epidemic, which caused NOAA to declare an "unusual mortality event" earlier this month, has baffled scientists.

Now, it appears they've ruled out the possibility that overfishing is depleting the ocean food source, as some have suggested.

"Right now our data does not suggest that any of the stocks off California are overfished," Wilkin said.

Marine biologists are focusing their investigation on environmental factors, such as algae growth, wind pattern changes and sea surface temperature changes, which led to a similar sea lion epidemic during El Niño.

Scientists are also looking into "re-strandings," where the same rescued sea lions are washing ashore again.
 

A truck dumped thousands of pounds of wood along one of the busiest highway off-ramps into downtown San Diego Thursday.

The California Highway Patrol issued a SigAlert for the incident at the transition from State Route 163 and Ash Street around 7:30 a.m.

One lane was still open to traffic CHP officers said.

Check Interactive Traffic Map

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

The report of a suspicious device shut down a street in Rancho Penasquitos for more than an hour Thursday morning as law enforcement officials investigated.

San Diego police arrived in the 9800-block of Paseo Montril after someone called about a suspicious package found under a vehicle.

Officers shut down eastbound traffic on Cijon Street. No one has been evacuated.

A resident leaving for work noticed a briefcase stashed under the tire of her van.

Apparently a neighbor may have driven away with the briefcase on the roof of the car and a passerby may have tucked it beneath the van to keep it safe officials said.

A bomb squad captain said there is a difference between a suspicious device and a misplaced device but in this case, the homeowner did the right thing and called in the authorities.

No one was injured and the street was reopened to traffic before 10 a.m.

Federal, state and local law enforcement agents arrested 18 suspected methamphetamine and heroin traffickers during pre-dawn raids in the North County Wednesday morning, the office of U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced.

More than 200 agents and detectives from the multi-agency North County Regional Gang Task Force made the arrests across Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, San Marcos and Temecula.

Agents also seized 35 weapons during the sweep, including handguns, semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, officials said.

“The number and types of weapons seized in this investigation are troubling,” said Duffy. “We will to continue to target these well-armed drug traffickers who operate in our neighborhoods and put all of us at risk – especially our children.”

Duffy says Wednesday’s North County raids are associated with the unsealing of grand jury indictments charging 46 defendants with various drug trafficking crimes, including importation and distribution of meth. Some defendants were also charged with heroin trafficking.

The North County Regional Gang Task Force -- which includes investigators from the FBI, ATF, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security and the Oceanside and Carlsbad police departments – has been leading a long-term investigation into these suspected North County drug traffickers dubbed “Operation Corridor.”

The nearly four dozen defendants indicted in Operation Corridor range in age from 20 to 51 years old.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore says the multi-agency task force operation aims to reduce crime and keep perpetrators off the streets.

“Operation Corridor has been extremely effective in restoring quality of life to our residents in the North County along the 78 corridor,” said Sheriff Gore.

A total of 28 suspected drug traffickers linked to Operation Corridor remain at large. They hail from all parts of the North County, from Oceanside to San Marcos.
 

A local 22-year-old man has died from meningococcal disease, the County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced Wednesday.

According to the HHSA, the previously healthy man was admitted to a local hospital on Apr. 9 and died the following day from the disease.

In another unrelated case of meningococcal disease, HHSA officials say a 47-year-old man is currently hospitalized and in critical condition.

The HHSA has identified all close contacts of both individuals and they have received preventive antibiotic treatment.

The HHSA says meningococcal disease is spread through close contact with the person infected, such as sharing drinking glasses, eating utensils, cigarettes or water bottles.

Symptoms may include fever, intense headache, lethargy, stiff neck and a rash that does not blanch under pressure. The time between exposure and onset of symptoms can be between two to 10 days.

The HHSA says the disease can be treated with antibiotics or vaccination, which is highly recommended for children and teens between 11 and 18 years old.

In addition to these latest cases, two more local cases of probable meningococcal disease were also recently reported, according to the HHSA. One is a previously healthy 31-year-old man who’s recovering at a local hospital, while the other is a previously healthy 44-year-old woman.

So far in 2013, there have been five confirmed cases of the disease in San Diego County. In two of those cases, the infected individual has died. Last year there were eight total cases reported in San Diego.

The HHSA is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Mexican public health officials to determine if these illnesses in San Diego are in any way related to cases of meningococcal disease in Tijuana this year.

Since Jan. 4, health officials say 20 cases of the bacterial disease have been confirmed in Baja California, including seven deaths.

To find out more about meningococcal disease and how to prevent it, visit this website.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has declared a state of emergency in his state, as the Chicago area grappled with widespread flooding and another wave of storms on the way.

"Heavy rainfall over the past few days has created dangerous flooding in areas across the state," he said. "Everyone should stay home and off the roads if possible. To ensure safety as these storms continue, people should be alert and avoid flooded areas."

Gov. Quinn headed to the Chicago area Thursday morning to survey flood damage after a torrential downpour dumped several inches of rain on the region. 

"We have to do this together as a family," Quinn told reporters. "When we have any kind of emergency, we work together for the common good. We help each other."

Quinn said a hospital in Morris, Ill., had to be evacuated, as well as two trailer parks currently underwater. Residents have lost whole rooms of belongings, and in Chicago a sinkhole swallowed three cars, injuring a man.

"We got about three feet in 15 minutes, and it just rose from there," said Jeff Giegoldt, who was jerked awake Wednesday by the sound of rushing water in his basement bedroom on Chicago's Northwest Side.

He told NBC Chicago he was able to rescue his cat and his laptop, but everything else remains in the basement under about six feet of water. At one point the water rushed in so quickly, the basement screen doors snapped off their hinges.

"We knew the rain was coming, but you can't be prepared for six feet of water like that," Giegoldt said. "Everything I have is down there."

His story is similar to many residents experiencing flooding after Thursday's massive storm poured several inches of rain on northern Illinois.

David Bonilla, who lives a few doors down from Giegoldt, said he managed to grab just a few things before the water rose to dangerous levels nearly up to his chest. Most of Bonilla's belongings also are submerged under six feet of water.

These homes aren't near a river or a flood plain, so many residents don't have flood insurance. That means the next step is to wait for everything to dry out.

"Basically, right now we're playing the waiting game," Bonilla said. "Just waiting for the water to go down so we can get down there and clean up and salvage what else we can get."

North of the Chicago, Lake County officials declared a state of emergency as some residents were forced to evacuate their flooded homes. Several towns west of the city also declared states of emergency, including Lisle, Lombard and Elmhurst.

"We encourage people to stay off the roads and if you do have to be somewhere, please slow down because the water then creates a wave effect that will flood people's home," Elmhurst City Manager Jim Grabowski said.

Meanwhile, Quinn has activated the State Incident Response Center, which allows officials to assess flooding and severe weather in several areas of the state and expedite assistance that may be needed by local public safety officials to protect citizens.

Quinn emphasized the need to work together, noting state officials are ensuring public safety by taking measures like dispatching prison inmates to fill sandbags, assisting stranded motorists, coordinating with the National Guard.

His office said the Red Cross has opened shelters in Roanoke, Oglesby and Lisle and is continuing to assess the need for shelters and other assistance.

"I urge everyone to stay alert and avoid flooded areas," Gov. Quinn said. "Residents should tune in to local TV and radio stations for updated information about any closed routes or evacuations."

A HAZMAT team is investigating an item delivered to a fire station in Chula Vista.

Around 10 a.m. a man went to Fire Station No. 5 at 391 Oxford st. after finding containers labeled "cyanide" in his family's property. The man said he was cleaning out his recently deceased father's shed when he discovered the bags.

The man placed the containers in his car and took them to the fire station to have them inspect. Firefighters then roped the area off and called HAZMAT to investigate.

Cyanide is known to be highly toxic.

Officials are currently testing the substance and will determine how to dispose of it.

Check back for updates on this story.

Homicide detectives were called to an area of Kearny Mesa south of State Route 52 for the report of a suspicious death on Thursday.

San Diego police officers were in the 7700-block of Convoy Court on official business when they discovered a person dead inside a vehicle.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the car found at the scene is registered to Grace Ann Hall, 23. Police have not yet confirmed if the body found inside the vehicle was the person who the car is registered to.

A bulletin issued on Wednesday by the San Diego Police Department identifies Hall as a missing person. It describes her as a white female, 5-foot-7, 150 pounds with blond hair and hazel eyes.

According to the SDPD bulletin, Hall was last seen around 8 p.m. on Mar. 20 driving a grey Toyota Camry in the 9100 block of Rebecca Avenue in Serra Mesa.

The police bulletin says Hall was supposed to travel to Sherman Oaks in Los Angeles for a job interview at an unknown home. At the time the bulletin was issued, investigators did not know if Hall had ever arrived in the Sherman Oaks area.

Police say Hall’s credit card had been used in Mira Mesa since her disappearance, but hadn’t been used since Mar. 27.

As for the body discovered by police on Thursday, investigators do not yet know if the person died from natural causes or if a crime has been committed.

The deceased person has not been yet been identified.

Officers have cordoned off a section of the street and are awaiting the arrival of the personnel from the county medical examiner’s office.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

Motorists driving in both directions on Interstate 15 will experience some detours beginning this Sunday as the highways are closed for nighttime construction.

According to Caltrans, all lanes in both directions on I-15 near Mira Mesa and the SR-76 interchange will be subject to closure from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through next Thursday.

During those hours, Caltrans says construction crews will be removing temporary wood and steel that was used to widen SR-76 over the freeway.

All drivers will be detoured to the SR-76 off-ramp and back to the I-15 on-ramp. Caltrans says SR-76 will remain open with flaggers directing traffic at the interchange.

The closures will likely cause some delays for motorists in this area.

Caltrans says the overnight construction work is part of the I-15/SR-76 Interchange Improvement Project that will eventually connect to the SR-76 East Project.

The East Project is slated to start later this year with the goal of realigning and widening the highway to four lanes.

Caltrans reminds driver to be cautious and slow down around construction zones.

For more information about these closures, call the Caltrans Public Information office at (619) 688-6670 or visit this website.
 

Johnathon Elko and Natalia Van Stralen bought their first house two months ago, but they aren't getting married until September.

They are not alone.

According to a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate, a growing number of millennials are getting a house before getting hitched.

"It's a perfect time to get into the market," said Johnathon Elko.

He said since they have been engaged they thought now would be a good time to buy a house.

"When we became engaged, it was like, do you want to keep renting for another hear or do we want our money to actually go somewhere?" said Elko.

According to the survey, nearly 25 percent of married homeowners aged 18-34 bought a home together before they were married. Out of homeowners who are 45 and older, only 14 percent bought their home before marriage.

"I think it is probably easier today," said Michael Lea, Director of the Corky McMillin Center for Real
Estate at San Diego State University.

He says attitudes and laws now make it easier for unmarried couples to get into the real estate market. And he says with interest rates low and housing prices starting to rise, couples are motivated to buy a house.

"It can draw people closer together," said Lea but he says there is also a drawback, "You're taking on a big financial responsibility and that could have some negative consequences as well."

More couples getting into the market is good for the housing industry, according to real estate experts. Every year men and women are waiting longer to get married, but that's not keeping them from buying a house.

Elko said it was the right thing to do.

"Knowing that we were already engaged when we were looking, I think it kind of paved the way," he said.

Immediately after the bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line, students at San Diego State University were already trying to solve the case.

“Within two minutes of when it happened we were already working on it,” said Eric Frost, Director of the SDSU Visualization Center or as it's popularly known, the “Viz Center."

Frost and other homeland security experts work at the lab teaching students how to make sense of digital data, such as pictures, video and social media posts.

Since Monday, Frost has been in contact with investigators across the U.S. who need help. In this case, he and his students are trying to pinpoint the Boston bombing suspects.

“We categorize things by time and location and then content. If you're used to doing that, this is just making a pattern. Looking for Waldo in the pattern,” Frost said.

The Viz Center specializes in organizing and delivering geospatial data a sophisticated way of connect-the-dots.

Frost said the private sector as well as academic institutes are far ahead of law enforcement in this type of research mostly due to privacy concerns.

“It's a neat thing that the government is asking the public for help,” Frost said.

“Universities are by far our best, quietly in the background helping and not in the limelight,” he said.

For students, this is the ultimate training and reward.

Graduate student Justin Freiler immediately jumped on social media after the bombings to see the video and images being shared.

By comparing images from random people and angles, he said the team can coordinate a person and determine their location and movements.

Everything is time stamped so it can be put together as a puzzle, Freiler said.

“You not only want to help them but their families and the people affected at that moment. It's really nice to bring something to the table and justice faster,” he said.

Frost (pictured right) and the Viz Center have worked with federal officials, emergency responders and the U.S. military for years.

They work on projects ranging from border tunnels to tsunami and hurricane response.
 

San Diegans are coming together to remember the victims of the Boston Marathon with a special run at De Anza Cove in Mission Bay.

On Monday at 6 p.m., dozens of local runners are set to gather at 2750 De Anza Rd. for the “Boston Strong San Diego Run" (See map below for location).

A Facebook group and event page has been created for the local run. As of 12:45 p.m. Thursday, about 415 people had signed up for the event, with thousands more invited to join.

Organizers say the run is open to everyone and is meant to show support and solidarity for Boston Marathon runners and the victims in Monday’s horrific twin explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line.

The Facebook group says the idea for the local run for Boston came from the pavementrunner.com website which urges communities everywhere to organize their own “Boston Strong” runs.

The event is meant to unite people and show strength, as well as run for those who were unable to finish the Boston Marathon or those that may never run again following the terror in Boston.

“A run for us to try and make sense of the tragedy that has forever changed something we love,” according to the pavementrunner.com website.

To learn more about Monday’s Boston Strong San Diego run, click here.

The combination of warm and windy weather has prompted a red flag warning for San Diego County through Friday according to the National Weather Service.

San Diego’s mountains including Palomar and sections of the Cleveland National Forest are under the red warning until 5 p.m. Friday.

Our local mountains and inland valleys could see wind gusts in excess of 35 mph according to NBC 7 Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh.

“It’s the trifecta – the warm temperatures, the dry conditions, the wind that’s going to make for pretty critical fire weather,” Kodesh said.

Inland areas will enjoy temperatures in the 80s Thursday with even warmer temperatures Friday.

Get Your Forecast

CAL Fire determines a red flag warning when there is low relative humidity, strong winds, dry fuels and/or the possibility of dry lightning strikes.

The agency warns residents to use caution because a simple spark can result in a large and destructive wildfire.

CAL Fire offers a checklist for homeowners to make sure their property is prepared for fire season.
 

Surgeries were canceled at Scripps Mercy Hospital on Thursday.

A statement from the Hillcrest hospital said the decision was made after an internal review of operating rooms.

Scripps Mercy Hospital still went ahead with emergency and trauma surgeries, but any procedures that could be canceled were moved to another day. They said they regularly conduct audits to ensure quality and safety.

Shutting down surgeries for the day is very rare.

Scripps Mercy Hospital doctors were notified last night, with officials it was a light schedule at the hospital and a good time to go over operating room procedures.

A hospital spokesperson tell us that this was not done because of any mishap or injuries.

The California Department of Public Health does not need to be notified in the case of an internal audit, but the hospital would be required to report any unusual problems that threaten the welfare, safety or health of patients or personnel.

Scripps officials said those elective surgeries canceled today are being moved to tomorrow and Saturday.
 

Phone scams involving lies about personal bank accounts or grandchildren, as well as requests for money and personal information, are targeting residents in Coronado, police confirmed.

According to Coronado Police, at least six residents have called authorities after receiving phone calls from an unknown person who asked them for personal and financial information.

Investigators say some of the suspect callers identified themselves as a “bank examiner” while speaking with victims. Several of the suspects told victims they were conducting counterfeit investigations.

Two others claimed they were calling about checks from the victims’ accounts that someone was supposedly attempting to cash or checks that had allegedly gone missing, police said.

“The ‘bank examiner’ scam is used by con artists, who try to control victims by frightening them into believing they are losing money,” the Coronado Police Department said in a statement on Thursday. “They then offer a solution to distracted victims, who aren't thinking clearly. The thieves speak quickly and trap their victims by promising to replace the money but not before they give up valuable personal information.”

In addition to the “bank examiner” scam, Coronado Police are also investigating a phone scam in which con artists tell victims that their grandkids are in jail and they need bail money quickly.

In the “grandkids in jail” scam, police were able to stop a wire transfer of $17,000 from a victim to the scammer. In another instance, police say one victim lost $2,900 after using a money transfer company to send cash to a suspect caller.

Officials have not yet identified or arrested anyone involved in these phone scams.

Police want to remind residents to never provide personal or financial information to a stranger over the phone. Police ask residents to report any suspicious scam calls to police.

Additional victims of this particular string of phone scams are asked to call the Coronado Police Department at (619) 522-7350.

A gun battle breaks out between police and cartel in the middle of a Tijuana street.

It is a scene that played out over and over again back in 2010 with more than 800 homicides that year.
But Baja California State police say the homicide rate now, is nearly half of that.

"The people that get killed, they're related with the drug dealers it's not like innocent people are getting killed," said Tijuana resident Julio Barcelo.

Still, police say so far there have been 35 homicides during the month of April alone.

For Tijuana residents, it's unnerving to know that it's still happening.

"It's bad, it’s really something,” said Alejandro Mastache, who crosses the border into San Ysidro daily to work.

But it's not something many residents always hear about.

“You get more scared like watching the news than you do living down there,”said Barcelo.

According to authorities all but one of this month's homicides are drug-related. Baja California State Police Commander Alfredo Arenas says that is not the case for the rest of Mexico.

But in Tijuana, the days of street battles or the staging of public massacres are long gone.

Arenas says now the cartel is creating alliances with their former competitors.

“The cartels are fighting between them and they're executing rival cartels. So far it's a war between cartels. No innocent people have been killed,” Arenas told NBC 7 on Thursday.

Although the cartel continue to quietly kill each other, Tijuana has no trouble attracting tourists.

NBC 7 talked to one couple in town from Germany who were walking across the border into Tijuana.

“We are going in the daytime so I think that it should be ok,” said tourist Tom Sobilo.

While Tijuana is still trying to recover from a violent past, authorities say the recent homicides are no cause for alarm.

"You just have to be precautious everywhere. You have to be precautious, maybe just a little bit more over there,” said Mastache.

Arenas also tells NBC 7 the once-dominant Arrellano Felix Organization has been slowly dwindling in Tijuana.

He says right now the remaining members of that cartel have joined the Sinaloa cartel.

He admits the homicide rate in TJ is still high, but he says the collaboration of former cartel rivals proves that these criminal operations are not as powerful as they used to be.