These cases have highlighted the growing interest of Mexican cartels in influencing politics.[5]. Somewhere near San Fernando, which lies on the interstate to Matamoros, the buses were hijacked, and convoys of armed men snatched passengers. Then, in December 2009, Arturo Beltrn Leyva was killed by Mexican marines. The cartels brutal murders came to a head under the leadership of Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. Following the murder of 72 kidnapped migrants in August 2010, a subsequent investigation revealed that some Mexican policemen assisted the Zetas in committing the slaughter. Violent drug gangs are waging a bloody war in the tourist haven of Quintana Roo - visited by millions of British and American holidaymakers each year. However, despite its success in cocaine and methamphetamine, La Familia Michoacana's power was curtailed by yet another splinter group, The Knights Templar. No one charges under $2,000 these days to get into the United States and [the Zetas] get $400 to $500 for each migrant smuggled through their territory, he says. With nearly all of the bodies lacking identification, authorities transported them to the Matamoros morgue for family members to hopefully identify. Their vicious feud affects ordinary people, too, such as Juan Manuel Delgado Crdenas, a 23-year-old student who was murdered for refusing to cook synthetic drugs (via Mexico News Daily). The implication of this is that Los Zetas continues to bolster its criminal operations through nontraditional and unexpected means. Los Zetas operates in 17 states, while Sinaloa operates in 16 states. In August 2017, the cartel kidnapped 17 people and kept them in a stash house in Nuevo Laredo. He said that officers escorted him to remote locations to deliver guns to Millan-Vasquez on more than one occasion. Inside The Brutal 1955 Murder Of 14-Year-Old Emmett Till That Galvanized The Civil Rights Movement, 101-Year-Old Woman Who Began Trapping Lobster Before The Great Depression Has No Plans To Retire, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Following the 2011 San Fernando Massacre, Federal Highway 101 was colloquially dubbed the highway of death or the devils road.. "[The government] told me not to go asking questions about my son. Eventually, this group broke away to become a drug cartel of their own, which is now the notorious Los Zetas. De Leon said that he didn't voluntarily start working with the cartel; he was kidnapped and forced to participate. In 2010, Los Zetas established itself on its own terms, terrorizing the country with torture, beheadings and massacres (via Irish Times/Britannica). Velazquez started out stealing cars in his hometown of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and was jailed there. Partners must notify. Mexicos National Human Rights Commission estimated that 20,000 migrants were abducted in 2010, alone. (Watch our piece Mexican Marines Kill Drug Lord Known as The Executioner.). If you dont pay them, they will take your merchandise, he says. Imagine how tragic it would be for such a respected and honored organization to become an evil one like Los Zetas. The 34-year-old, known as "Chano", was a regional boss in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras. 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Picture taken from a TV screen showing Miguel Angel Trevino Morales by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images. He has been in detention since his arrest in Texas in 2015. Based in northwest Mexico's Sinaloa state, the Sinaloa Cartel is widely considered to be the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, according to Insight Crime. If their relatives do not pay for their release, they may be killed and dumped into mass graves. 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First it was people with money, then it was anyone. ", The Gulf cartel's control in the northeast state of Tamaulipas has seen many violent incidents, both against rivals and each other. We rely on the generosity of our readers who believe that this work is important. Los Zetass status as the largest drug cartel in Mexico carries additional implications. Reyna never heard back from the cartel, so he said that he contacted the Mexican government. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Led by the Beltran Leyva brothers Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo, and Hctor, the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO)was a vicious drug cartel in the Mexican state of Sinaloa (via Insight Crime/Wilson Center). Reyna discovered that his son's co-worker and girlfriend were also missing. Among these provincial traders and smugglers wasJoaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as "El Chapo.". [1] The deadly organization started out as the enforcement branch of the Mexican Gulf Cartel. The find is indicative of cartel operations in Texas and the United States as a whole. Media speculation on the motives for the kidnappings range from the cartels need for new recruits to fight its turf battles to the notion that passengers are being extorted for money. There are a handful of drug cartels in Mexico, most of which run almost like corporations. US attorney Richard L Durbin Jr told the court in San Antonio, Texas, the killer had acted "without mercy or compunction". Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. When Reyna didn't hear from his son for several days, he started making calls. By that point, however, more bodies had surfaced. Los Zetas control a wide swathe of territory ranging from the Texas border to Guatemala. "They did this so I would tell my family if they didn't obtain the money, this would happen to them," he said in court. SAN ANTONIO, Texas - In San Antonio today, a federal judge sentenced 34-year-old Marciano Millan Vasquez, a high ranking member and a former sicario for the Los Zetas drug cartel, to seven consecutive life imprisonment sentences for committing and aiding and abetting the commission of numerous murders and other acts of violence, During their enforcer period, theUS Drug Enforcement Agency(DEA) described Los Zetas as perhaps "the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and violent of these paramilitary enforcement groups.". 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. As part of the threats, the Vieja Escuela faction has ordered that the relatives of the CDN leadership leave Ciudad Victoria or face a sure death. Founded by the Orejuela brothers, the Cali cartel earned billions a year, inheriting the Medellin cartel's 80% market share and multi-ton shipments to the United States (via Seattle Times/Insider). In the human smuggling business, migrants pay $100 to $200 upfront, then pay the rest once theyve reached the United States. During the trial, witnesses said he had hacked apart his victims with an axe and burned their bodies in barrels, according to the San Antonio Express-News. At one of the gory murders the horrific slaughter of a young girl he reportedly told her father the crime was "so you can remember me", before ordering the murder of both parents. In the same month, heavily armed gunmen fired upon Omar Garcia Harfuch, Mexico City's public security secretary, injuring him and killing two bodyguards and a passerby (via Insight Crime). The cartel member he spoke with was Jose Luis Rodriguez. There were only a few bullet casings at the scene, but one sledgehammer and bodies showing blunt trauma to the head. Britannicawriter Richard J. Samuels defines cartels as, "An illicit consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition and control the production and distribution of illegal drugs," adding that cartels are, "extremely well-organized, well-financed, efficient, and ruthless." An 18-year old Ecuadorian migrant who survived the massacre told officials that it was Los Zetas, a brutal drug cartel, that had kidnapped the group of Central and South American migrants. In and around Cali if the mafia doesn't like you, you just disappear.". Drug lord Miguel Angel Z-40 Trevino Morales was arrested early in the morning Monday on a country dirt road after a Mexican Marine helicopter intercepted the pickup truck he was riding in. With the Los Zetas fighting the Gulf Cartel for control of human trafficking networks, police corruption was no surprise. He also forced captured Mexican migrants into gladiatorial fights to the death. Photos, illustrations and other art may be available for syndication but must be confirmed. De Leon is now cooperating with authorities. And these lives are often innocent civilians caught up in the dreadful violence and corruption, such as the shootout in Tulum, which killed two tourists and injured three more, according toThe Guardian. The Shrinking actor talks mental health, being queer, and why the Lone Star State is the perfect home for his new play Silver Foxes. He created a company, Tremor Enterprises, to purchase racehorses for American contests, winning millions in prize money through fixing races and doping horses. Perhaps the most heinous La Linea crime occurred in Bavispe, where the group attacked a Mormon family inNovember 2019, killing nine people including several children, according to ABC. Traditionally, Mexican cartels like Los Zetas only grew and manufactured drugs in Mexican territory and other less advanced countries where government officials were collaborators or incapable of disrupting their operations. With that grim context in mind, here are the most dangerous cartels to ever exist. They were given map reading courses, communications, and standard Special Forces training and instruction on how to use light and heavy weapons, machine guns, and several other automatic weapons. Aside from manufacturing illegal drugs and trafficking them, the gang is also into kidnapping and extortion. Instead, they were raped and beaten to death or vanished into a new life as cartel soldiers. Initially formed by about 30 former members of an elite Mexican army unit, the gang used fear and intimidation to conduct business in defiance of government operations. Shortly after the brutal execution, the CDN faction of the Los Zetas struck once more. In August 2010, the Mexican military stumbled upon the bodies of 72 people bound and executed. The LA Times found that from January 1988 to November 1991, drug traffickers killed up to 219 people in this area, disposing of their bodies in rivers. As the cartel made connections across Mexico and the world, their death toll increased exponentially. While the Gulf cartel remains a danger to society, their influence has been diminished by Los Zetas, their wayward spawn. These are the top ten distressing facts about Los Zetas you dont want to know. Earlier in life, he was trained in a Mexican Special Forces unit to fight drug-trafficking organizations. However, Insight Crime suggests that the large traditional cartels may be over as Mexico's criminal underworld becomes increasingly fragmented and scattershot. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. With the Medellin leader gone, Insider noted how the rival Cali cartel took the reins of Colombia's booming cocaine industry. CJNG's battles with the Los Zetas and CRSL cartels are similarly brutal. De Leon said that during his captivity, he witnessed Zetas commanders dismember people while they were still alive and throw the body parts into a flaming barrel. Prosecutors asked De Leon why it took him so long to point out the defendant. Mainly, Grayson notes a Zetalisation starting to occur among the other cartels. This has led to savage fighting between some 400 splinter gangs, each killing and maiming for scraps of territory (via Business Insider). In 2014, years after the conviction of the Orejuela brothers, the US government declared that the Cali cartel was no longer a threat, lifting sanctions that had been imposed by the Clinton administration in 1995 (via ABC news/Insight Crime). So how does Morales, who came into power just last year after his predecessor was shot and killed by authorities and his Los Zetas fit into the underworld that is Mexican cartels? Outlets must also tag the Observer in all social media posts. Jurors broke down in tears when De Leon described a mother and father being pulled by their hair and forced to watch their 6-year-old daughter dismembered alive before they faced the same, brutal death. It was around this time that the group established the aforementioned Los Zetas, a paramilitary force that brought a new organized violence to the international drug trade. She was known for being the crazy white one. WebOn behalf of Los Zetas." The cartel can trace its roots to the 1960s and '70s, when farming families entered the marijuana business. Extortion, smuggling, torture, possible harvesting of human body parts. Human smugglers often use buses to transport migrants north to the Texas-Mexico border. To set the records straight, Los Zetas was formed by Mexican ex-military men. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. The load belonged to De Leon. He said that the Zetas commanders ordered the killings because there was a government informant in the group. WebIn 2010, the Zetas killed 72 undocumented immigrant workers in the San Fernando massacre. 2021 The Texas Observer. When Osiel Cardenas Guillen took over as the leader of the Gulf Cartel, it was in the midst of a violent turf war. Only in 2014 was this dynamic officially exposed in a memo from the Mexico Attorney Generals Office on the 2010 San Fernando Massacre, the 2011 San Fernando Massacre, and the recovery of 49 human torsos in 2012. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (aka The Executioner) The two claimed credible fear, telling agents that they feared for their lives if they were to stay in Mexico. The Mexican military has been trying unsuccessfully for years to dismantle an extensive network of radio antennas built and operated by the Los Zetas drug cartel. Los Zetas is a Mexican drug cartel known for its sophisticated crime machine and brutality. They kidnapped a local farmers son and demanded $10,000, and when he gave them $5,000 everything he had they sent him half of his son.. Lazcano was the leader of the Los Zetas cartel. The Times wrote how Escobar had always dreamed of being the President of Colombia, and this ambition showed in his twisted flair for governance. De Leon said that his two superiors were let go after they paid, but that he didn't have the $100,000 the cartel needed. Mexico's largest and most powerful drug gangs are the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel. Its origins are traced toEl Milenio, a group that was allied to the Tijuana cartel. In April 2019, CJNG killed 14 people in Minatitlan, a Zetas territory. The defendant in this case is Mariano Millan-Vasquez, known to everyone as "Chano." A significant part of this bloodshed is caused by the Tijuana cartel, which is in constant conflict with the Sinaloa cartel. Photo by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images. The way in which the killers carried This radio communication technology has given them a edge over Mexican law enforcement agencies for years. Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? A former Mexican drug cartel kingpin who dismembered a six-year-old girl with an axe in front of her parents has been sentenced to seven consecutive life terms in a US prison. WebThe 2011 San Fernando massacre, also known as the second massacre of San Fernando, was the mass murder of 193 people by Los Zetas drug cartel at La Joya ranch in the municipality of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico in March 2011. Authorities expect more violence to ensue in the coming days. Gary Green and Arthur Brown Jr. are set to be killed next week by the State of Texas. You name it, the Zetas did it.. After learning about the 2011 San Fernando Massacre, take a look at 33 photos of the Mexican drug war. Escobar's luck ran out on December 2, 1993, when he was gunned down as part of a joint U.S.-Colombia effort. Alliances were formed on both sides, with the BLO allying with Los Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel working with the Gulf and Familia Michoacana cartels (via Insight Crime). Jalisco New Generation, often referred to as CJNG, is another Mexican cartel that emerged in 2010. The import of this for the American people is that no matter what measures the US government takes to destroy the vast network of drug smuggling within the country, the effort may be fruitless, as it is no longer a case of fighting a foreign entity. The witness said that the commanders kidnapped him and his two superiors until they paid what they owed for the seized load of marijuana. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy, Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq, A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France, A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. You have to keep up with the Joneses. Get our latest in-depth reporting straight to your inbox. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Upon his release, he was put in charge of the cartel in Nuevo Laredo but then relocated to Zacatecas and rose through the ranks of Los Zetas. Lazcano died in a shootout with the Mexican Navy. Unlike some of its fragmenting rivals, CJNG's power is forecast to grow despite government pressure on their front companies and bank accounts. How could such a tragedy occur in San Fernando not once but repeatedly? This was back when Lazcano and Z-40 were still running the Los Zetas cartel. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. Known for his brutality, one technique he allegedly favored was the guiso, or stew, in which enemies would be placed in 55-gallon drums and burned alive. Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at, Abbott Wants to Deny Undocumented Kids a Public Education, Border Security Is a Financial Black Hole that Will Consume Us All, Two Executions, Many Questions about Mental Health, Innocence, Remembering a Social Justice Lawyer Extraordinaire. WebThe Los Zetas used improvised weapons like knives, rocks, and burning mattresses. Put in pairs and given sledgehammers, they were forced to fight each other. The heartless drug lord is claimed to have personally killed 2,000 people, in addition to ordering and supervising thousands of other murders. 330 76 comments Best Add a Comment ComfortableSoup5 2 yr. ago Rival gang MS-13 may have the most terrifying tattoos (see featured image), but Los Zetas wins the prize for violence. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Consequently, several Mexican cities such as Los Cabos, Tijuana, and Acapulco have recorded some of the highest murder rates in the world, according toStatista. Largely funded by the international drug trade, Mexican cartels wield military-grade weapons in firefights with Mexicos Armed Forces that often leave collateral damage. WebLos Zetas, originally founded by Mexican special forces deserters, some with US training, started as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel, a crime group from northeastern Cartels have dominated the international drugs trade since the 1980s, earning many billions of dollars and killing tens of thousands of people in Mexico and Colombia alone (via Al Jazeera and Britannica). While older cartels were more interested in smuggling drugs than anything else, Los Zetas apparently has its sights set on any type of crime that translates into quick and steady cash. They robbed stores, they broke into an auto repair shop and stole cell phones and several vehicles, all with the goal of spreading terror.". At times [he inflicted] the cruellest of pain, forcing relatives to watch their loved ones murdered before he turned his blades on them, said Mr Durbin. As part of the threats, the Vieja Escuela faction has ordered that the relatives of the CDN leadership leave Ciudad Victoria or face a sure death. The CJNG split from the Sinaloa Cartel after the killing of Ignacio Coronel, a capo whose death caused a power vacuum(via Insight Crime). The cartel leaders that subsequently took over after Moraless arrest were unable to stay in power for long, either being arrested or gunned down by a rival gang. The 2011 San Fernando Massacre was both disturbing and, tragically, far from a one-off occurrence. The Zetas were notorious for their brutality, even by cartel standards. The last time Reyna saw his son was Sept. 11, 2011. The winners got to become Zetas recruits, while the losers got death. [10] The authorities havent succeeded in shutting down the cartels sophisticated radio communication due to two reasons: The first is that the radio equipment is easy to replace; the second is that the gang relies on free forced labor to build and maintain its radio equipment. They were believed to have been killed for refusing to pay a ransom or join the Information obtained from authorities points to the victims being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Then, in May, SinEmbargo reported that the cartel had destroyed a military helicopter with an RPG, killing 5 soldiers. Mexican government security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez (C) speaks during a press conference, accompanied by Mexican Navy General Jorge Victor (L) and Mexican Army General Martin Terrones (R) to present details of the military operation in which Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, the alleged drug lord behind the cartel Los Zetas, was arrested.