WebDuring a particularly emotional testimony on Wednesday, a former worker for Los Zetas said that he was kidnapped twice by the cartel and was forced to witness several violent acts. 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." He claimed that he was blindfolded, handcuffed, driven to random locations around Piedras Negras, stripped of the blindfold, and forced to kneel and watch these brutal murders. Largely funded by the international drug trade, Mexican cartels wield military-grade weapons in firefights with Mexicos Armed Forces that often leave collateral damage. As the two factions continue their fierce fighting, gunmen from the two groups have taken to social media and banners to deliver threats to each other. In1997, PBS described the Tijuana drug cartel as "one of the most powerful and aggressive drug trafficking organizations operating from Mexico," adding that it is "undeniably the most violent." Most are extorted and let go or sold into prostitution. He also won territory from the Tijuana and Juarez cartels during the Mexican government's war on drugs, which brought new levels of violence to the region (via Britannica). Besides drug smuggling, the cartel is involved in every facet of trade in its territory including human trafficking. I know that police and transit officials in San Fernando help the Zetas organization, because rather than take detainees to the Pentgano, which is to say the municipal jail, they would deliver them to the Zetas, said lvaro Alba Terrazas, one of the 17 detained police officials. Please check your inbox to confirm. SAN ANTONIO -- A father whose son went missing in 2011 took the stand Wednesday in the federal trial of an alleged war commander for Los Zetas drug cartel. Unlike some of its fragmenting rivals, CJNG's power is forecast to grow despite government pressure on their front companies and bank accounts. This time around, the horrific body count eclipsed all expectations with 193 people rotting in 47 mass graves. Officials exhuming the bodies noticed that many bore the marks of blunt trauma. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Tamaulipas government, the children have been identified as Galilea Garcia Amaya, Mariana Garcia Amaya (both from Texas), Maria Pizana Carrizales and Estephania Guadalupe Pizana Carrizales. Trevino Morales became head of the Los Zetas cartel after the death of long-time leader Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano in October 2012. These cases have highlighted the growing interest of Mexican cartels in influencing politics.[5]. Los Zetas is a criminal gang that manufactures and smuggles illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana, among others. WebMarciano 'Chano' Millan Vasquez, 34, was jailed in San Antonio, Texas, for 29 killings carried out for notorious northern Mexican gang Los Zetas between 2009 and 2015, as well as As the cartel made connections across Mexico and the world, their death toll increased exponentially. Among these provincial traders and smugglers wasJoaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as "El Chapo.". [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. The Shrinking actor talks mental health, being queer, and why the Lone Star State is the perfect home for his new play Silver Foxes. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. The rest of the video is a gruesome 40 seconds of cold-blooded murder, which caused international controversy recently when it was posted on Facebook. WebOn behalf of Los Zetas." Earlier in life, he was trained in a Mexican Special Forces unit to fight drug-trafficking organizations. A rival of the Sinaloa cartel, the Juarez group has been responsible for thousands of murders across its territory, which included 21 states at the height of its power. The last time Reyna saw his son was Sept. 11, 2011. 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 April 2015, the group killed 15 police officers just weeks after killing five federal officers, which involved the use ofmachine guns and grenade launchers. 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. The cartels brutal murders came to a head under the leadership of Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. 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). They told me to stop doing that," Reyna said in court. The first one they asked, he didn't want to work, and [cartel members] said, that's fine. He turned around, and they shot him in the head. With all this being said, the power and brutality of the gang seem to be waning. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. Melissa is a 2016-17 Lannan Fellow at The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. // . The heartless drug lord is claimed to have personally killed 2,000 people, in addition to ordering and supervising thousands of other murders. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story: This article was originally published by the, Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. A depressing fact about Los Zetas is that they are sometimes aided by Mexican police in the commission of unspeakable crimes. These types of brutal dealings by Los Zetas originally a bodyguard group for another cartel upset the status quo. Much of the cartel's drugs trade depended on theLazaro Cardenas port, an asset that La Familia killed some 1,500 people to protect. Brutality and inhumanity are the most noticeable traits of drug cartels all over the world, but Los Zetas has taken them to a new high. CJNG have also committed several assassinations, including the June 2020 murder of Jalisco judge Uriel Villegas Ortiz and his wifeVernica, who were shot some 20 times, according to a El Pais report. The winners got to become Zetas recruits, while the losers got death. In 2006, severalLa Familia hit men, who said they had a "divine right" to kill, dumped five severed heads on a dance floor, yet this didn't alienate them in the public eye (via Insider/Insight Crime). 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). Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless, Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican, A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California, A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho, Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open, Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally, A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. 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 Lazcano was the leader of the Los Zetas cartel. WebCIUDAD VICTORIA, Tamaulipas -- Gunmen with the Los Zetas cartel butchered close to 20 victims over the weekend, three of those victims were Texas residents who had been WebLos Zetas are blamed for last week's brutal killings of the police chief in the southern Mexican city of Veracruz, his wife and four children. WebCartel Del Golfo interrogation 4 Zetas these bastards have admitted to raping women,killing women, killing kids. Curiously, no bus line reported their buses or passengers missing. Months after the casino attack, 49 decapitated bodies were dumped on a Monterrey highway (via Insight Crime/The World). How could such a tragedy occur in San Fernando not once but repeatedly? The Times wrote how Escobar had always dreamed of being the President of Colombia, and this ambition showed in his twisted flair for governance. Read more about illegal drugs and those who deal in them on 10 Atrocities Committed By Mexican Drug Cartels and 15 Notable Drug Traffickers. The military gunned four Zetas members down, before capturing nine others and finding five abducted passengers inside the ranch. CIUDAD VICTORIA, Tamaulipas Gunmen with the Los Zetas cartel butchered close to 20 victims over the weekend, three of those victims were Texas residents who had been visiting relatives. Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty ImagesAn armored police vehicle carrying Los Zetas member dgar Huerta Montiel in June 2011. Whatever the motivations, the mass killings show just how little control the federal government exerts over Tamaulipas. If their relatives do not pay for their release, they may be killed and dumped into mass graves. It was one of the deadliest attacks ever on Mexican A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port, A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador, A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk, The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron, Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Thank you. The Texas Observer is known for its fiercely independent, uncompromising work which we are pleased to provide to the public at no charge in this space. Miguel Angel Trevino Morales (aka Comandante 40) Reporter-producer Larisa Epatko contributed to this report. 330 76 comments Best Add a Comment ComfortableSoup5 2 yr. ago The memo indicated that local police acted as lookouts and helped in the interceptions of persons across all cases. 2021 The Texas Observer. Former Zetas members testified Tuesday, claiming the cartel is responsible for a bloody massacre in Piedras Negras in 2011. The implication of this is that Los Zetas continues to bolster its criminal operations through nontraditional and unexpected means. Cartel: Los Zetas Picture taken from a TV screen showing Miguel Angel Trevino Morales by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images. He frequently supervised killing experiments wherein new recruits were ordered to kill people with a machete or sledgehammer. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (aka The Executioner) WebSoon after the murder, Guzman became known as Z-1, and would become the founder of Los Zetas, literally The Zs: an organization that began as an elite security detail and would evolve across 12 years to become one of Mexicos most powerful criminal organizations. There is a huge consensus that Mexican drug cartels are responsible for the drug epidemic in the United States. She specializes in reporting on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border. 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. WebOn behalf of Los Zetas." You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. Rodriguez said that when he asked a commander about Reyna's son who disappeared, the commander said for him to stop asking about it, because they just finished "cooking him". Initially, the group was led by Osiel Crdenas Guilln, who recruited around 30 alumni from Mexico's special forces. CJNG's battles with the Los Zetas and CRSL cartels are similarly brutal. Los Zetas is indeed the worst Mexican drug cartel in history. Gradually, the BLO began to weaken in this battle of attrition, losing many members to jail or death. [2] It is a fact that some of the cartels initial members were elite Mexican troops who were trained in the early 1990s by Americas 7th Special Forces Group.