Mexico's largest and most powerful drug gangs are the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel. They ordered the informant be killed along with anyone and everyone associated with him. 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. This is because La Familia styled itself as the people's cartel by performing social work and employing civilians, which won both popularity and new recruits. [CDATA[ The rescue was made possible by an anonymous tip about gunmen bringing victims into a house in the Villas de la Fe neighborhood. Led by the infamous Pablo Escobar, the Medellin cartel is said to have killed thousands of people, including three Colombian presidential candidates, many judges and over 1,000 police officers (via Biography). All Rights Reserved. Rather than prioritizing corruption like its competitors, Los Zetas has preferred to use paramilitary violence to seize territory and intimidate rivals, according toInsight Crime. The Gulf cartel is among the oldest cartels in Mexico and has held varying degrees of power since its origins in 1984, according toInsightCrime. Few rivals could hope of matching Escobar as his cartel controlled80% of the cocaine trade, which involved daily 15-ton shipments to the United States, as detailed in Escobar'sInsight Crimebiography. To set the records straight, Los Zetas was formed by Mexican ex-military men. Several other executions and attacks during the weekend brought the total number of casualties to 19 and close to 24 wounded by gunfire. FROM brutal beheadings to violent kidnappings, the cartel wars of Cancun have unleashed horror on Mexico's Caribbean coast as gangsters wreak havoc yards away from luxury resorts. Instead, they were raped and beaten to death or vanished into a new life as cartel soldiers. By the early 1990s, Medellin was the most violent city not just in Colombia but the entire world, and much of that was because of the Medellin cartel's war with the government (via Rapid Transition). But Los Zetas stands out. Three of them are Graphic from a 2011 NDIC national drug threat assessment. Arson investigation underway after cars catch fire at west Houston apartment complex, Mother of 15-year-old shot at a house party wants someone held accountable, Houston forecast: Grab your jacket as you head to the rodeo, it's a cool and breezy Friday, Damage reported throughout North Texas area during severe weather. "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. Sadism was their brand. "[The government] told me not to go asking questions about my son. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. Prosecutors asked De Leon why it took him so long to point out the defendant. 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. CJNG's battles with the Los Zetas and CRSL cartels are similarly brutal. An armored police vehicle carrying Los Zetas member dgar Huerta Montiel in June 2011. Not only does Los Zetas control key drug smuggling routes into the United States, but it now controls much of the illicit trade of sneaking migrant workers to the US. De Leon is now cooperating with authorities. This time around, the horrific body count eclipsed all expectations with 193 people rotting in 47 mass graves. WebLos Zetas have also carried out multiple massacres and attacks on civilians and rival cartels, such as: the 2010 San Fernando massacre (24 August), where 72 migrants were found Piedras Negras, in the state of Coahuila, has a reputation as a hotbed for drug smuggling and violence. Site made in collaboration with CMYK. 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. This article was written by M.A. Even the Sinaloas are now decapitating people, he said. Reyna discovered that his son's co-worker and girlfriend were also missing. 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. Among these provincial traders and smugglers wasJoaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as "El Chapo.". Cartel: Los Zetas Millan-Vasquez was found guilty last July of murder, violence, drug and weapons trafficking, and employing minors in a drug crime a total of 10 counts. 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. In 2015, U.S. law enforcement discovered a marijuana field in Texas with a market value of $2 million. Los Zetas was described by the US government in 2009 as "the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and dangerous cartel operating in Mexico". Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican, A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. Not only are groups like Los Zetas interested in influencing politics, but Mexican politicians are equally interested in the dividends of the drug trade. To make matters worse, the gang is also into migrant smuggling. Since the war began, the fighting has resulted in daily kidnappings, shooting, drive by shootouts, beheadings, dismemberments and other gory executions. You name it, the Zetas did it.. Much of the cartel's drugs trade depended on theLazaro Cardenas port, an asset that La Familia killed some 1,500 people to protect. He frequently supervised killing experiments wherein new recruits were ordered to kill people with a machete or sledgehammer. Gore video - four women dismembered by the gang - xgore Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month, Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Imagine how tragic it would be for such a respected and honored organization to become an evil one like Los Zetas. 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. 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. 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). 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. He was arrested by the Mexican Navy in 2012. 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. 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). Facebook beheading video: Who was Mexico's Jane Doe? The defendant in this case is Mariano Millan-Vasquez, known to everyone as "Chano." 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. WebCartel: Los Zetas Killed: Oct. 7, 2012 Lazcano was the leader of the Los Zetas cartel. What should we expect from a heartless criminal organization put together by ex-military men? Breitbart Texas Cartel Chroniclesare published in both English and in their originalSpanish. In 2018, analystParker Asmann dubbed the Sinaloa Cartel "Mexico's top crime group," despite El Chapo's arrest, trial and eventual detention in the United States. 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. 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. Web270p Video: Notorious Mexican Los Zetas cartel boss, Moises Escamilla May, 45, who was jailed for a string of ruthless beheadings, dies in jail from coronavirus Jalisco Cartel A staff writer for All Thats Interesting, Marco Margaritoff has also published work at outlets including People, VICE, and Complex, covering everything from film to finance to technology. 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. When prosecutors asked De Leon if "Chano" was in the courtroom, the witness stood up and scanned the courtroom for close to three minutes, before pointing at Millan-Vasquez. The two cartels enjoyed over a decade of business until the late 1990s, when the Gulf cartel had become self-sufficient. Border / Cartel ChroniclesBreitbart TexasCartel ChroniclesCartel ViolenceCDNCiudad VictoriaGrupo BravoLos ZetasVieja Escuela. The fact that Los Zetas was able to grow and nurture $2 million worth of marijuana in Texas is quite distressing. He said that they spoke over the phone every day. Top 10 Disturbing Facts About Los Zetas - Listverse However, according to Insight Crime's profile, the cartel's influence has been compromised by arrests and infighting, limiting their territory to Tijuana, a vital smuggling city on the US-Mexico border. The witness said that the commanders kidnapped him and his two superiors until they paid what they owed for the seized load of marijuana. The Juarez cartel is another relatively old organization dating back to the early 1980s (via Insight Crime). 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.. There were only a few bullet casings at the scene, but one sledgehammer and bodies showing blunt trauma to the head. 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. 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. Gary Green and Arthur Brown Jr. are set to be killed next week by the State of Texas. Most are extorted and let go or sold into prostitution. 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. 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. The following facts also illustrate the reality that an immediate defeat of the drug cartel may be far from feasible. // Inside Mexicos brutal drug cartels - The Sun 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. WebThe Los Zetas used improvised weapons like knives, rocks, and burning mattresses. Earlier in life, he was trained in a Mexican Special Forces unit to fight drug-trafficking organizations. The cartels have now moved beyond drug violence to murdering busloads of civilians, and the government seems incapable of stopping it. This gang violence occurs in their stronghold of Ciudad Jurez, where 1,200 people were murdered in 2018. When Osiel Cardenas Guillen took over as the leader of the Gulf Cartel, it was in the midst of a violent turf war. As Breitbart Texas has been reporting for more than eight months, the Cartel Del Noreste has been at war with the rival faction known as Vieja Escuela Z or Grupo Bravo. Melissa del Bosque joined the Texas Observer staff in 2008. Countries militaries are dedicated to defense from external aggression and the protection of peoples lives and properties. However, despite their swift and brutal success, Insight Crime reports that Los Zetas has experienced fragmentation since 2012, especially when the Trevino brothers fell out and split the group into rival clans,the Northeast Cartel and the Zetas Old School. 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). However, recently, theyve taken their drug manufacturing activities to highly advanced countries like the United States. If the lawmakers are puppets to drug cartels, then there is very little hope that the war against the cartels will be won. The rest of us agreed.". These are the top ten distressing facts about Los Zetas you dont want to know. 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. Cartel leader who dismembered six-year-old girl In 2017, the Mexican government extradited Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, a 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. The field was linked to the Los Zetas cartel. ", The Gulf cartel's control in the northeast state of Tamaulipas has seen many violent incidents, both against rivals and each other. Elizabeth Shell. Cartel: Los Zetas A depressing fact about Los Zetas is that they are sometimes aided by Mexican police in the commission of unspeakable crimes. Who knows what is going on in American Samoa. De Leon said that his mother sold her house for $20,000 to help him, and that the Zetas let him loose with the stipulation that he must pay $100,000 more in one week. Los Zetas is a criminal gang that manufactures and smuggles illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana, among others. If a debtor refused, Escobar deployed his team of lethal "sicarios.". Alberto Islas, a Mexico City security analyst whos advised corporations in Tamaulipas, offers a more plausible and chilling motive for the massacres: Its just business. First it was people with money, then it was anyone. 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 Busloads of people were declared missing in 2011 when their luggage went unclaimed in Reynosa and Matamoros. Jalisco New Generation, often referred to as CJNG, is another Mexican cartel that emerged in 2010. He also forced captured Mexican migrants into gladiatorial fights to the death. The military gunned four Zetas members down, before capturing nine others and finding five abducted passengers inside the ranch. During his peak in the mid-1980s, Escobar established a debt collection service called "Oficina de Envigado," which was based in the town hall of Envigado. Then, on April 21, 2011, police arrested San Fernandos police chief and got a little closer to the truth. Their operations in Colombia and Guatemala can be taken for granted because these countries have homegrown drug cartel problems of their own. 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. As the cartel made connections across Mexico and the world, their death toll increased exponentially. On Aug. 24, 2010, however, Mexican Armed Forces unearthed the bodies of 72 undocumented immigrants who were simply executed. However, despite its success in cocaine and methamphetamine, La Familia Michoacana's power was curtailed by yet another splinter group, The Knights Templar. Authorities expect more violence to ensue in the coming days. In June 2021, The Independent reportedinfighting between Gulf factions the Metros, the Scorpions and the Cyclonesresulted in 19 deaths, 15 of them innocent civilians. They picked us up and told us we had to work for someone, for Los Zetas, De Leon said in court. The Zetas have set a price for allowing smugglers to transport migrants into the United States, and the cartel expects its cut, Islas says. Brutal Mexican Zetas cartel leader chopped up girl, 6, with an axe That's right the Wight bitch was the bad one and cut off heads with axes with her own hands. He said that cartel members kidnapped him again and held him captive for 13 days until he found the money. Multiple witnesses have testified that Millan-Vasquez controlled the region of Piedras Negras for Los Zetas and is responsible for hundreds of killings and disappearances. Shortly after the brutal execution, the CDN faction of the Los Zetas struck once more. 10 Atrocities Committed By Mexican Drug Cartels - Listverse Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. The way in which the killers carried Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics With their archenemy established, La Familia Michoacana set out to publicize themselves. 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. With the Medellin leader gone, Insider noted how the rival Cali cartel took the reins of Colombia's booming cocaine industry. 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. In early April, Mexican military officials made another grisly discovery in the once sleepy farming community of San Fernando: a series of mass graves among the mesquite brush. The gunmen murdered a young girl by the name of Estefania Martinez Diaz, a woman by the name of Mara Campillo Mata and a man by the name of Miguel Angel Mendoza. Los Zetas is a powerful Mexican drug cartel that has made special use of fear to achieve its business goals.