CHICAGO – Two drug busts last month involving major quantities of methamphetamine have sparked concern among law enforcement officials in Chicago that cartels are moving into the meth market, a development that could lead to a steep increase in trafficking of the drug to the city.

Chicago police have seized smaller amounts of the drug before that were believed to involve small-scale labs in the Chicago area. But the busts in August involved suspects believed to be bringing the drug into Chicago for Mexican cartels, which have been developing so-called “super labs” to produce mass quantities of the drug, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

Jack Riley, a special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Chicago, said the cartels traditionally flood areas with a particular drug to “capture the market.” He worries that could be set to happen in Chicago with meth.