By 2010, the Zetas controlled more than double the number of Mexican municipalities as their closest rivals, and expanded their operations as far afield as Guatemala.
During this time they were also embroiled in continuous conflict with the Gulf cartel, and, according to Insight Crime, they clashed with the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's dominant drug-trafficking organization.
The breakup of the Zetas began in 2012, with the arrest or death of several key leaders coming over the next three years.
Presently, Insight Crime notes, the Zetas are a group of factions, generally lacking the cohesion needed to move narcotics across borders and instead relying "more on profiting from crime in territories they hold than from international drug trafficking."
According to the DEA, however, Los Zetas, or elements with the cartel, still have a presence in the US, and have partnered with gangs in American territory, as well as Colombian traffickers, to move cocaine and other drugs into the US.