In this article, James Tillen and Matteson Ellis discuss their experience handling high-stakes investigations in Mexico and the heightened risks investigators face amid the uncertainty of companies' potential exposure to U.S.-designated cartels. "I don't sense that enough people appreciate how deeply and widespread the cartels have infiltrated Mexico," said Ellis. Tillen also noted, "we've been dealing with this for years because corruption is often in the unsafest countries, so it's not a new risk. But I think some of these cartels are obviously just absolutely frightening entities to deal with, so that may add another layer of caution."