Well seeing as there has been a proxy war between Russian-Mafia(KGB-FSB) backed cartles and ATF backed cartels for the past 15 years so its nothing this would be nothing new.
Mexicans, Russian mob new partners in crime By - The Washington Times - Monday, May 28, 2001
"The recent seizure of 20 tons of cocaine from two "fishing boats" manned by Russian and Ukrainian crewmen has raised concerns that Mexican drug smugglers are doing business with the Russian mafia. U.S. intelligence sources believe drug cartels in Mexico, considered among the worlds most ruthless, have followed the lead of Colombian cocaine smugglers to form alliances with the Russian mob and other Eastern European crime organizations...Colombian drug cartels discovered the Russian mafia as early as 1992. The Russians, who operated from New York, Florida and Puerto Rico, moved quickly to help the Colombians import drugs into Europe through Italy. The Russian mobsters, many of them former KGB agents, controlled numerous banks in Moscow and established others in Panama and the Caribbean to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit drug profits...DEA Agent Errol Chavez, who heads the agencys San Diego office, said smugglers on the Svesda Maru must have had the permission of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel in Tijuana to be transporting cocaine so close to its territory. The Arellano-Felix cartel has maintained its position as Mexicos leading drug smuggling organization through sheer force, and has survived for more than 15 years because of its access to weapons and its willingness to use them. U.S. drug agents believe the organizations ties to the Russian mafia go a long way to ensuring its longevity."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2001/may/28/20010528-023346-7901r/
So the Arellano-Felix cartel, or the Tijuana Cartel, are known associates of the Russian Mafia, who have ties to ex KGB members. Okay, so who are the rivals of the Tijuana Cartel..?
"The Tijuana Cartel is now a small Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel once was described as one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico, however since the 2006 Sinaloa Cartel incursion in Baja California and the fall of the Arellano-Félix brothers, the Tijuana Cartel has been reduced to a small group of scattered cells.."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_Cartel
Well guess who works with the Sinaloa Cartel..
U.S. Government Helped Rise of Mexican Drug Cartel: Report Mexican newspaper reveals secret arrangement between DEA and Sinaloa cartel "The U.S. government allowed the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel to carry out its business unimpeded between 2000 and 2012 in exchange for information on rival cartels, an investigation by El Universal claims. Citing court documents, the Mexican newspaper reports that DEA officers met with top Sinaloa officials over fifty times and offered to have charges against cartel members dropped in the U.S., among other pledges...The period when the relationship between the DEA and Sinaloa was supposed to have been the closest, between 2006 and 2012, saw a major surge of violence in Mexico, and was the time when the Sinaloa cartel rose significantly in prominence."
and a more recent article in bloomberg
Mexico Is Target for 5 Russian Mafia Gangs, Universal Reports
"At least five Russian mafia gangs are operating in Mexico and may spark a violent struggle to control drug trafficking and other illegal activities because recent arrests have weakened Mexican drug cartels, Universal reported.
The Russian group operates in Tijuana, Mexico City and Cancun and is made up of former members of the KGB and special forces who specialize in illegal drugs, arms trafficking and money laundering, El Universal said, citing information obtained from the Mexican Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. State Department and Interpol."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZ0qLZa0k7k8