Los Zetas The cartels brutal murders came to a head under the leadership of Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. The CJNG split from the Sinaloa Cartel after the killing of Ignacio Coronel, a capo whose death caused a power vacuum(via Insight Crime). In August 2010, the Mexican military stumbled upon the bodies of 72 people bound and executed. Los Zetas cartel members and San Fernando Massacre suspects being presented to the press on June 30, 2011. The two cartels enjoyed over a decade of business until the late 1990s, when the Gulf cartel had become self-sufficient. According to court testimony, from 2007 through 2011, Chavarria oversaw the shipment of enormous quantities of cocaine between Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, and Eagle Pass, Texas on behalf of the Los Zetas Cartel, in which he was a high-ranking member. The cartel's influence has declined like many of its fragmenting peers, but their power remains strong inCiudad Jurez and the Valle de Jurez, which are key trafficking locations. The fledgling cartel were trained by members of Los Zetas, yet they would turn on their mentors because of local resentment to Zetas' methamphetamine business. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Worse than any horror film: Inside a Los Zetas cartel kitchen In August 2010, the gang massacred 72 kidnapped migrants at a remote ranch in Northeastern Mexico after they refused to pay a ransom for their release or take jobs as hit men. ", The Gulf cartel's control in the northeast state of Tamaulipas has seen many violent incidents, both against rivals and each other. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. The winners got to become Zetas recruits, while the losers got death. Yarrington is reported to have allowed the Gulf and Los Zetas cartels to operate in his state without hindrance in return for bribes. Initially, the group was led by Osiel Crdenas Guilln, who recruited around 30 alumni from Mexico's special forces. They recovered deleted material, which included death threats from the defendant and information regarding Zetas operations. This article was written by M.A. Authorities had been notified of missing passengers from Highway 101 on May 24 and May 29, with soldiers following a tip that led them to the La Joya ranch a few miles off the road. Los 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. Shortly after the brutal execution, the CDN faction of the Los Zetas struck once more. Then, in December 2015, Insider reported that La Familia founderCarlos Rosales Mendoza was found dead baring torture wounds. WebOn behalf of Los Zetas." (Watch our piece Mexican Marines Kill Drug Lord Known as The Executioner.). 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). Abstract. After the group's 1985 murder of DEA agentEnrique Camarena, the US and Mexico closed in on the cartel, causing several leaders to disperse across Mexico, leaving El Chapo and his partnerHctor Luis Palma Salazar as the Sinaloa chiefs. In August 2010, Zetas executed 72 migrants in Tamaulipas, which was followed by 2011 attacks in San Fernando and a Monterrey casino, killing a combined 245 people. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty ImagesSan Fernando woman Alma Miriam Ruiz holding a photo of her daughter Dalia missing since 2010. On Aug. 24, 2010, however, Mexican Armed Forces unearthed the bodies of 72 undocumented immigrants who were simply executed. The Gulf's cocaine business started when they brokered a deal with the Cali cartel, which was looking for new routes from Colombia to the United States. They immediately went to war with the Los Zetas and proudly claimed responsibility for a swathe of mass killings, including the massacre of 15 Mexican cops in a single ambush. The heartless drug lord is claimed to have personally killed 2,000 people, in addition to ordering and supervising thousands of other murders. The cartel can trace its roots to the 1960s and '70s, when farming families entered the marijuana business. The women have been identified as Lourdes Gregorio Garcia Amaya from Texas, Raymunda Amaya Contreras, Maria Del Rosario Carrizales Amaya, Griselda Carrizales Amaya and Maria Cirila Contreras Garcia. 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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. Former Los Zetas worker: I was forced to witness brutal killings When it was The criminal indictment claims that the former governor took bribes from drug cartels in exchange for official protection. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Marciano Millan-Vasquez 'brutally murdered anyone and everyone as it suited him and his cartel', Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? Follow @NewsHourWorld The cartels have now moved beyond drug violence to murdering busloads of civilians, and the government seems incapable of stopping it. Picture taken from a TV screen showing Miguel Angel Trevino Morales by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images. The way in which the killers carried CJNG's battles with the Los Zetas and CRSL cartels are similarly brutal. The irony of this scenario is that the training they received was supposed to prepare them for counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics operations. De Leon said that he helped Los Zetas stash drugs, transport firearms and deliver marijuana to drug mules along the river to be smuggled to the U.S. Drug cartels influencing politics paints a picture of total disaster. It was one of the deadliest attacks ever on Mexican The gunmen used a large hammer to break down the door before storming the house shooting indiscriminately at the women and children inside. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. This was back when Lazcano and Z-40 were still running the Los Zetas cartel. 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). The April 6, 2011, effort would eventually yield the largest mass grave ever found in Mexico. With their archenemy established, La Familia Michoacana set out to publicize themselves. Authorities investigating the massacre reported numerous hijackings of passenger buses on Mexican Federal More terrifying is their ease of operations in countries like the US. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. His body was stolen from the funeral home. However, in the late 1990s/early 2000s, a set of El Milenio lieutenants rebelled and created their own cartel. The memo indicated that local police acted as lookouts and helped in the interceptions of persons across all cases. In 2017, the Mexican government extradited Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, a [7] As usual, theyve also brought an unprecedented level of violence to the trade. WebMultiple witnesses have testified that Millan-Vasquez controlled the region of Piedras Negras for Los Zetas and is responsible for hundreds of killings and disappearances. The last time Reyna saw his son was Sept. 11, 2011. San Fernando woman Alma Miriam Ruiz holding a photo of her daughter Dalia missing since 2010. the Mexican boys forced to eat human flesh as a cartel initiation. On Wednesday morning, prosecutors called Jaime Abascal Reyna to the stand. It is disheartening to hear that the founding fathers of a criminal organization like Los Zetas received training from US military officers. According to World Atlas, Tijuana had the highest homicide rate in the world in 2020, with 138 murder per 100,000 residents. Cartel leader who dismembered six-year-old girl 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. This savagery is nothing new. Its origins are traced toEl Milenio, a group that was allied to the Tijuana cartel. They were believed to have been killed for refusing to pay a ransom or join the With that grim context in mind, here are the most dangerous cartels to ever exist. Mostly Central American immigrants, they were traversing the state of Tamaulipas to cross into Texas. 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). Photo by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images. Captured: Sept. 26, 2012 [CDATA[ Killed: Oct. 7, 2012 They robbed stores, they broke into an auto repair shop and stole cell phones and several vehicles, all with the goal of spreading terror.". Facebook beheading video: Who was Mexico's Jane Doe? It had only been a year since officials in the Mexican city found 72 victims of the Los Zetas drug cartel buried in the dirt. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. WebThe Los Zetas used improvised weapons like knives, rocks, and burning mattresses. // ]]>. 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. The implication of this is that Los Zetas continues to bolster its criminal operations through nontraditional and unexpected means. Whats distressing about the criminal organization is the atrocities they have committed in the past and the potential they possess to increase their scale of operations and perpetuate more horrors in the future. Former governor Humberto Moreira was also singled out by former Mexican President Felipe Calderon has having protected Los Zetas in his state. The traditional cartels buy off politicians, establish traffic routes for smuggling and make money. Since then, BLO members have either been killed, jailed or defected to new splinter groups, such as the Guerreros Unidos and Los Rojos, which dabble in extortion, kidnapping and lethal violence. Yet the Cali cartel was still a powerful drug cartel that used violence if it had to, especially during its conflict with the Medellin cartel, which took many lives on both sides. To make matters worse, the gang is also into migrant smuggling. You have to have cartel cred being known as the meanest, most savage criminal organization in the Americas.. Whatever the motivations, the mass killings show just how little control the federal government exerts over Tamaulipas. WebThe Most Brutal Execution Methods Reportedly Used By Mexican Cartels Beheading By Chainsaw. He has been in detention since his arrest in Texas in 2015. Site made in collaboration with CMYK. She released videos of her beheading the caught zeta members herself. To protect himself from harm, Guillen hired a retired Mexican soldier as his bodyguard, who in turn solicited 30 Mexican Army deserters to form the cartels well-paid mercenary wing. He claimed that the drugs came from the Zetas "comandantes" or commanders, which included Millan-Vasquez. Since the war began, the fighting has resulted in daily kidnappings, shooting, drive by shootouts, beheadings, dismemberments and other gory executions. Instead, they were raped and beaten to death or vanished into a new life as cartel soldiers. Earlier in life, he was trained in a Mexican Special Forces unit to fight drug-trafficking organizations. Los Zetas had begun to hijack buses along Federal Highway 101. You can contact her at [emailprotected]. 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 Juarez cartel's expansionist ambitions have been quelled in recent years, but they retain a strong grasp on their part of the US-Mexico border, which should maintain their threat to the region for some time. 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). Graphic from a 2011 NDIC national drug threat assessment. Zetas They would rape and kill the women and offer men a macabre choice. Captured: July 15, 2013 What should we expect from a heartless criminal organization put together by ex-military men? 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. Among these provincial traders and smugglers wasJoaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as "El Chapo.". How could such a tragedy occur in San Fernando not once but repeatedly? The witness said that the commanders kidnapped him and his two superiors until they paid what they owed for the seized load of marijuana. All rights reserved. By 2020, the once leading cartel was wounded and facing competition from old rivals and new cartels, such as the Jalisco New General Cartel, often referred to as CJNG. Authorities expect more violence to ensue in the coming days. Los Zetas called Mexico's most dangerous drug cartel 10 Atrocities Committed By Mexican Drug Cartels - Listverse Moreover, the extremely violent gang has made connections and collaborated with U.S. gangs all over the country since 2010. Eventually, this group broke away to become a drug cartel of their own, which is now the notorious Los Zetas. The cartel member he spoke with was Jose Luis Rodriguez. With all this being said, the power and brutality of the gang seem to be waning. [8] Los Zetas has been linked to several other mass murders in Mexico. Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (aka The Executioner) This radio communication technology has given them a edge over Mexican law enforcement agencies for years. In the end, the legacy of the 2011 San Fernando Massacre is one of blood money, corruption, and wanton murder. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. Former Los Zetas worker: I was forced to witness brutal killings