Last week, journalist Hector de Mauleon published a column revealing alleged classified cables claiming the state of Tamaulipas’s governor-elect, Americo Villarreal, received up to $7 million from the Mexican gang Cartel del Noreste to finance his political campaign. To no one’s surprise, Villarreal is denying these allegations. However, accusations of cartel collusion are common in Mexican politics — and too frequently true to dismiss as conspiracy theories.