There are currently around 33,000 active U.S. street, prison, and motorcycle gangs with a combined total of about 1 million members, according to the U.S. National Gang Intelligence Center's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. Many U.S.-based gangs are involved in cross-border criminal activities, particularly along the U.S. southwest border with Mexico. Mexican criminal organizations employ U.S. gangs, particularly in the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, to participate in criminal activities like contract killings, kidnappings, and especially illicit drug trafficking. These U.S. border gangs transport drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin on behalf of Mexico's cartels into the United States.
