The reason I know that a Cartel hit wouldn't be this messing is because a childhood friend's father was assassinated by a cartel. The MS13 gang member type of killer would not be sent out to do a hit on U.S. soil. They would send the "Professional" killer. A professional killer would not kill 4 victims in a messy rage with a knife.

My childhood friend's father was killed to send a message to a childhood friend for getting caught by the police and losing a lot of money. The assassin dressed up in a local electrician uniform, knocked on the door and killed his father with a silencer early in the morning. This hit was done in a huge City in Ohio. It would be easier and cheaper for the cartel to kill only the target with a gun+silencer instead of having him scope out the area and sneak into the property to kill not only the target but 3 others with a knife. It makes absolutely no sense because cartel's have the resources to get a professional killer.