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. From the mid-1980s to his death in 1993, Pablo Escobar was the "King of Cocaine," earning an estimated $420 million a week, according to Insider. Sadism was their brand. 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 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). Former governor Humberto Moreira was also singled out by former Mexican President Felipe Calderon has having protected Los Zetas in his state. It was a solid lead, as cartels were known to take over ranches and convert them into makeshift jails or execution chambers. Zetas 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. They would rape and kill the women and offer men a macabre choice. Los Zetas control a wide swathe of territory ranging from the Texas border to Guatemala. He also forced captured Mexican migrants into gladiatorial fights to the death. The eventual split between the groups was described by theCongressional Research Serviceas"most violent in the history of organized crime in Mexico. He said that cartel members kidnapped him again and held him captive for 13 days until he found the money. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. In the human smuggling business, migrants pay $100 to $200 upfront, then pay the rest once theyve reached the United States. Today, the cartel retains a small presence in southern Mexico. With nearly all of the bodies lacking identification, authorities transported them to the Matamoros morgue for family members to hopefully identify. He made a mistake in his greedbelieving he was invincible and untouchable. Los Zetas is a powerful Mexican drug cartel that has made special use of fear to achieve its business goals. Photos, illustrations and other art may be available for syndication but must be confirmed. This wasnt the first time such a tragedy had visited San Fernando. 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. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia, The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. The killings could be a warning and a way of depriving the smugglers of their livelihoods. There are a handful of drug cartels in Mexico, most of which run almost like corporations. Piedras Negras, in the state of Coahuila, has a reputation as a hotbed for drug smuggling and violence. It is disheartening to hear that the founding fathers of a criminal organization like Los Zetas received training from US military officers. 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. "The first time [I was kidnapped], they took me with a group of about seven people. Initially, the group was led by Osiel Crdenas Guilln, who recruited around 30 alumni from Mexico's special forces. 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. In the 1990s, the aforementioned Cali cartel took the mantle from their Medellin rivals, becoming the most powerful cartel in the world. Moreover, the extremely violent gang has made connections and collaborated with U.S. gangs all over the country since 2010. Melissa del Bosque joined the Texas Observer staff in 2008. 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). 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WebZetas behead and dismember four women from the Gulf Cartel. Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. 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). While police arrested 76 suspects, including senior Los Zeta member Martin El Kilo Estrada, there was no victory there. Between January 2009 and July 2015, Millan-Vasquez was responsible for the murders of at least 29 people, according to testimony from the trial reported by local broadcaster KSAT. 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. This essay provides an overview of those incidents of torture and beheadings linked to the Mexican cartels and their mercenary and gang affiliates taking place both within Mexico and the United States. Example video title will go here for this video. Curiously, no bus line reported their buses or passengers missing. Whatever the motivations, the mass killings show just how little control the federal government exerts over Tamaulipas. Since 2011, there have been numerous scandals exposing the collusion between politicians and drug cartels. The Horrific True Story Of The 2011 San Fernando Massacre. Former Zetas members testified Tuesday, claiming the cartel is responsible for a bloody massacre in Piedras Negras in 2011. The rest of us agreed.". Several other executions and attacks during the weekend brought the total number of casualties to 19 and close to 24 wounded by gunfire. 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. Breitbart Texas Cartel Chroniclesare published in both English and in their originalSpanish. Yarrington is reported to have allowed the Gulf and Los Zetas cartels to operate in his state without hindrance in return for bribes. Los Zetas' Brutal Business Model After learning about the 2011 San Fernando Massacre, take a look at 33 photos of the Mexican drug war. He was told to contact someone in Los Zetas to see if they had information. 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.". 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. Relatives of the victims have begun a Go Fund Me campaign in order to take the bodies of Garcia and her two daughters Galilea and Mariana to South Texas for burial. 2011 San Fernando massacre First it was people with money, then it was anyone. The traditional cartels buy off politicians, establish traffic routes for smuggling and make money. Los Zetas 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. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin, Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. With their archenemy established, La Familia Michoacana set out to publicize themselves. 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. Gradually, the BLO began to weaken in this battle of attrition, losing many members to jail or death. 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 rest of the video is a gruesome 40 seconds of cold-blooded murder, which caused international controversy recently when it was posted on Facebook. GRAPHIC: Los Zetas Cartel Kill U.S. Woman and 2 Daughters WebIn 2010, the Zetas killed 72 undocumented immigrant workers in the San Fernando massacre. [6] Mexican drug cartels are currently operating in 47 countries around the world, including Colombia, Guatemala, and others. The Sun 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. Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty ImagesAn armored police vehicle carrying Los Zetas member dgar Huerta Montiel in June 2011. // Zetas The 6 most infamous crimes committed by Mexico's Zetas cartel On Aug. 24, 2010, however, Mexican Armed Forces unearthed the bodies of 72 undocumented immigrants who were simply executed. 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. Then come the Zetas, with no background in narcotics, and they start chopping peoples heads off, Grayson said. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. In the past year, gunmen from Los Zetas Cartel performed unique retaliatory killings in response to their allys videotaped sexual assault behind bars. Then, learn about the Mexican boys forced to eat human flesh as a cartel initiation. How could such a tragedy occur in San Fernando not once but repeatedly? Somewhere near San Fernando, which lies on the interstate to Matamoros, the buses were hijacked, and convoys of armed men snatched passengers. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. Among the first deaths in the conflict was Edgar Guzman, El Chapo's son. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/sadist-los-zetas-cartel-set-brutal-standard-in-drug-war, according to this graphic by the National Post, Mexican Marines Kill Drug Lord Known as The Executioner. 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. Besides carrying $2 million in cash and eight guns, Trevino Morales, the alleged kingpin of the feared cartel Los Zetas, was wanted for a spate of crimes in the U.S. and Mexico, ranging from the mundane to the horrific. Shortly after the brutal execution, the CDN faction of the Los Zetas struck once more. Editors Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The Zetas have set a price for allowing smugglers to transport migrants into the United States, and the cartel expects its cut, Islas says. With population of 60,000, San Fernando is near the Texas border and epitomizes cartel carnage. The video shows four women on their knees in a field, their hands tied behind their backs. These are the top ten distressing facts about Los Zetas you dont want to know. Insight Crime catalogued the numerous violent acts of this period, including the cartel's failed assassination of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in 1993, which went awry when the gunmen erroneously targeted the car of a Catholic cardinal, shooting him to death. Inside The Brutal 2011 San Fernando Massacre That Left 193 Dead The Zetas were notorious for their brutality, even by cartel standards. Worse than any horror film: Inside a Los Zetas cartel kitchen 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.. Families across Mexico reported that relatives had disappeared after boarding passenger buses bound for the Texas-Mexico border. There is a popular consensus that Los Zetas is the most brutal and inhuman drug cartel in history. They recovered deleted material, which included death threats from the defendant and information regarding Zetas operations. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. He has been in detention since his arrest in Texas in 2015. Groups like Los Zetas have also been known to operate abroad, buying raw materials from Argentina and operating in Asian countries like Malaysia. Even the Sinaloas are now decapitating people, he said. 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.