Los Zetas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Los Zetas (Zetas; Spanish for the Zs ) are a criminal organization in Mexico that has existed since 1999 . The original activities began in Tamaulipas state as the military and violent arm of the Gulf cartel . Los Zetas have since expanded their criminal operations to more than 20 Mexican states. You are also active in other countries, especially in neighboring Guatemala . According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), they are considered to be the most technologically advanced and most violent criminal organization in Mexico.

Since February 2010, the Zetas have been an independent drug cartel that fights primarily against the Sinaloa cartel in the drug war in Mexico . In the summer of 2012 it became known that the Zetas had split into two factions. One group was led by Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano (Z-3) and the other by Miguel Treviño (Z-40). They fought a gang war that left many dead. On October 7, 2012, the cartel leader at the time, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, was shot dead by Mexican marines ; his successor, Miguel Treviño, was arrested non-violently on July 15, 2013.

Structure and members

Los Zetas were formed in 1999 under the leadership of the former lieutenant Arturo Guzmán Decena from deserted elite soldiers, in particular the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), special military unit of the Mexican army , some of whom - as part of the War on Drugs - were trained in the US -American military base at Fort Bragg , North Carolina . They began working as an extremely violent and high-tech arm on behalf of Osiel Cárdenas , the then drug lord of the Gulf cartel. Its name is derived from the radio code Z-1 , which its first leader received at GAFE. All members were given a Z-code in ascending order. Well-known members of the Zetas were or are: Arturo Guzmán Decena (Z-1); Rogelio González Pizaña (Z-2 or El Kelín); Heriberto Lazcano (Z-3); Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales (Z-40).

Arturo Guzmán Decena died in 2002. Heriberto Lazcano was his successor. Until February 2010, the Zetas remained the armed arm of the Gulf cartel . They then broke away from their previous employer because they refused to reconcile with the Sinaloa cartel . Since then, they have been an independent drug cartel.

In August 2011, the Zetas are said to have consisted of 1,000 to 3,000 members. They also recruit their members from former members of a special unit of the Guatemalan armed forces , the so-called Kaibiles , and other soldiers.

Activities and events

Los Zetas are notorious for their brutal behavior. They behead and maim their victims, terrorize the civilian population and massacre migrants. Drug smuggling is just one of the Zetas' criminal activities. They also specialize in extortion of protection money, human trafficking and prostitution, kidnappings and the production and sale of pirated copies.

2010

On March 19, Zetas cordoned off at least 31 streets and highways in Monterrey and fought with security forces using automatic firearms and hand grenades near the Tecnológico de Monterrey University campus . At least two bystanders died.

In June, 17 Zetas members died in a shooting in the Mazatlán City Prison , Sinaloa State . Hector Raul Luna ( El Tori ), a leader of the Zetas, was arrested by Mexican police.

In August, the Mexican police in Pachuca discovered a mass grave with at least seven dead on the basis of information from two arrested Zetas members. About a dozen police officers alleged to have worked with the group were also arrested. In late August 2010, a group of 72 Latin American migrants en route to the United States were murdered during the Tamaulipas massacre. Members of the Zetas were suspected to be the perpetrators. Refusal to work for the perpetrators is assumed to be the motive for the crime.

On September 2, the army attacked a Zetas training camp on the border with the United States, killing 27 members. Until then, it was the most casualty skirmish for a drug cartel in the drug war.

At the end of 2010, the Zetas threatened to kill all citizens of Ciudad Mier . The residents then fled and left a ghost town . On December 16, according to the government of El Salvador , members of the Zetas kidnapped citizens of El Salvador who were traveling through Mexico on a freight train en route to the United States. The train was stopped by gunmen and the migrants were beaten, threatened and robbed. According to this, around fifty people, mainly women and children, are said to have been kidnapped. The Mexican Ministry of the Interior stressed that it had no knowledge of the event. On 19 December 2010, the government called Guatemala in the province of Alta Verapaz the state of emergency from. The reason she cited was the open takeover of power by the Zetas since 2009 in the region, which they use as a corridor for drug trafficking .

2011

Fights and arrests

On May 15, 27 bodies were found in Guatemala in the Peten province on the border with Mexico. The Guatemalan authorities suspect Los Zetas to be the culprit. Due to the massacre, President Alvaro Colom declared a one-day state of emergency on May 27, 2011 for the Peten province. This gave the police more powers.

On May 26, according to the government in Ruiz , members of the Zetas engaged in a one-hour gun battle with members of the Sinaloa cartel from moving cars on the main road from Tepic to Mazatlán , in which 29 people, some of them wearing riot suits and protective vests, were killed. The police confiscated 14 vehicles, including two armored vehicles, as well as rifles, ammunition and hand grenades.

In May, after a battle with the Zetas, Mexican police discovered an armored vehicle for 20 people in a warehouse.

On July 25, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order freezing the assets of members of the Zetas and other groups under US influence.

Arson attack on the Casino Royale

Casino Royale was destroyed five days after the attack on August 30, 2011

On August 29, Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz , the governor of Nuevo León state , announced that five members of the Zetas had been arrested in connection with the arson attack on Casino Royale in Monterrey. These were also confessed and confirmed the participation of at least twelve people.

Los Mata Zetas

On September 20 , 35 corpses showing signs of torture were unloaded from two pick-up trucks in Veracruz , right next to a conference hotel that was being used by the attorneys general at the time. The dead are believed to have been members of the Zetas, which was later confirmed by police. Threats to the group were found at the scene. Two days later, on September 22nd, the police found another 14 bodies with threats to the Zetas. Again two days later, on September 24th, a group called Los Mata Zetas (" the Zeta killers ") took responsibility for the bodies found. Their group was formed to punish the Zetas and to break their rule. On October 6th, the police in Veracruz found a total of 32 dead in three private houses, most of them tortured and strangled. Local media assume that the Mata Zetas were responsible.

Operation Chevrolet

On September 29th, during Operation Chevrolet, Manssor Arbabisar was arrested. On behalf of the Iranian Al-Quds unit, he is alleged to have committed the murder of the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir , to an alleged Zetas member, who is in fact a DEA employee Have given order. The veracity of the allegations is highly controversial.

Carlos Oliva Castillo

Around October 13, the number three of the Zetas, Carlos Oliva Castillo (also “La Rana”, Spanish for “the frog”), was arrested in Saltillo , Coahuila state . One civilian was killed and eight people, including three police officers, injured. According to the prosecutor, Castillo was believed to have been responsible for the Zetas' activities in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas . He is also said to have ordered the arson attack on Casino Royale.

2012

Arrest of the hit man Enrique Aurelio Elizondo Flores

On January 20, security forces arrested the 35-year-old contract killer Enrique Aurelio Elizondo Flores, known as El Árabe ( the Arab ) and El Cuervo ( the raven ), in the northern state of Nuevo León . He is said to have committed 75 murders in the past three years and to have been involved in other acts. The victims include 48 passengers on a bus in Ciudad Cerralvo , six police officers and a couple with their six-year-old son. The prosecution has video recordings showing Elizondo filming some of the crimes. The majority of his victims were actual or supposed members of the rival Gulf cartel . Some of his victims were shot, beaten, burned and mutilated.

Cadereyta de Jiménez

On May 13, 49 decapitated and mutilated bodies carrying a threatening message from the Zetas drug cartel were discovered near Cadereyta de Jiménez on Highway 40 between Monterrey and Reynosa .

Threats to Treviño Morales

On June 7, 14 dismembered bodies were also found in a parked pickup truck in a small town in northern Tamaulipas state. A warning to the Zetas' second man, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales , was found along with the dead .

Internal battles

In September, Attorney General Marisela Morales confirmed rumors of internal fighting. Accordingly, there should be a dispute between the leader Heriberto Lazcano and the second man Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales .

Arrest Iván Velázquez Caballero

On September 26, the Ministry of the Navy announced that a special unit had arrested Iván Velázquez Caballero (aka "El Talibán" or "Z-50") in San Luis Potosí state . Velázquez was considered a leading member of the Zetas. A bounty of 30 million pesos (around 1.8 million euros) was exposed on him. He is said to have headed the Zetas in the state of San Luis Potosí and is considered a founding member of the cartel. According to the BBC , he defected to the Gulf cartel shortly before his arrest in the course of a power struggle with Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales.

Killing Lazcanos

On October 7, 2012, the Zetas leader was killed in a shootout by the Mexican army. According to an army report, the drug lord suddenly opened fire during a vehicle inspection and threw hand grenades, whereupon several soldiers fatally hit him and his companion. He had a bounty of five million dollars from the United States government and 2.6 million dollars from the Mexican government. Succession battles and territorial disputes were likely.

2013

Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales (aka "El Z-40"), successor to the slain Lazcanos, was arrested by Mexican marines near the US border in the early morning of July 15, 2013.

2014

Presumably because of her critical reports and warnings in the risk report network Valor por Tamaulipas , María del Rosario Fuentes Rubio, a young doctor from Tamaulipas, was kidnapped and killed by supporters of Los Zetas in October 2014.

2015

On March 4, 2015, the leader of the Zetas, Omar Treviño Morales (Z-42), was arrested in San Pedro Garza Garcia near the city of Monterrey in Nuevo Léon at 4 a.m.

2017

Five people died and 15 were injured in a shooting in a nightclub in Playa del Carmen on January 16. In the city there was a large hand-painted sign with reference to the BPM Festival and its co-founder; It was signed with "El Fayo Z".

literature

  • Don Winslow: "The Cartel". Fiction, but many parallels to the real grouping, which are also mentioned in the book "Zetas"
  • Sandro Benini: Drugs, War, Mexico. The most dangerous place in the world. Realtime Verlag, 2013.
  • George W. Grayson and Samuel Logan: The Executioner's Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers, Criminal Entrepreneurs, and the Shadow State They Created . 2012. ISBN 978-1412846172 .

Web links

Commons : Los Zetas Kartell  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George W. Grayson: Los Zetas: the Ruthless Army Spawned by a Mexican Drug Cartel. May 2008, archived from the original on August 5, 2012 ; accessed on October 15, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Los Zetas called Mexico's most dangerous drug cartel. In: CNN , August 6, 2009.
  3. ↑ Military arrests Mexican drug lord. In: Spiegel Online , September 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ a b c Cecibel Romero: Fraternal war with chopped up corpses. In: taz. September 21, 2012, accessed October 15, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Arrest of drug lord Z-40 in Mexico: "The greatest sadist of all". In: Spiegel Online. July 16, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013 .
  6. ↑ American ISIS: The US Domestic Terrorism After the Iraq War . Matt Kennard, Vice.com , Feb.17 , 2015
  7. ^ A b c Five members of Los Zetas arrested for Monterrey Massacre. In: The Pan-American Post. August 30, 2011, accessed September 15, 2011 .
  8. ↑ a b Anne Huffschmid: A small gram of goodness. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . May 23, 2011, accessed May 23, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Ioan Grillo: El Narco . Bloomsbury, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4088-2433-7 , pp. 98 .
  10. ↑ a b c Sandro Benini: The mercenaries of the "executioner". In: Tages-Anzeiger . October 10, 2010, accessed August 30, 2012 .
  11. ^ A b Toni Keppler: With a state of emergency against the cartel. In: the daily newspaper . December 20, 2010, accessed December 22, 2010 .
  12. ↑ Private army grows cartels overhead. In: ORF .
  13. ↑ Alex Gertschen: Before the surrender. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 16, 2010.
  14. ↑ 23,000 dead since 2006. ( Memento from June 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: ORF .
  15. ^ Matthias Rüb : A struggle for survival. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 12, 2010.
  16. ↑ Mexican investigators discover mass grave. In: Spiegel Online , August 24, 2010.
  17. ↑ 18-year-old survived the massacre as the only witness. In: Spiegel Online , August 28, 2010.
  18. ↑ Alex Gertschen: Morals for the war with no foreseeable end. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . September 8, 2010, accessed May 27, 2011 .
  19. ↑ Klaus Ehringfeld: Hundreds of thousands flee from Mafia violence. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . March 31, 2011, accessed April 1, 2011 .
  20. ↑ 50 migrants kidnapped in Mexico. In: ORF . December 22, 2010, accessed December 22, 2010 .
  21. ^ A b After the massacre, an emergency in part of Guatemala. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. May 17, 2011, accessed May 19, 2011 .
  22. ↑ Cecibel Romero, Toni Keppler: Massacre in Guatemala. In: the daily newspaper. May 16, 2011, accessed May 16, 2011 .
  23. ↑ Bloody skirmish between gangster gangs in Mexico. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. May 27, 2011, accessed May 27, 2011 .
  24. Jump into the drug war with self-made tanks. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. June 7, 2011, accessed June 7, 2011 .
  25. ↑ US Sanctions Against Criminal Syndicates. In: ORF. July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2011 .
  26. ^ After the attack in Monterrey: five "Zetas" arrested. In: The Standard . August 29, 2011, accessed August 31, 2011 .
  27. ^ Resistance to the drug mafia. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . September 28, 2011, accessed September 28, 2011 .
  28. ↑ a b c d Toni Keppler: The "good Mexicans". In: the daily newspaper. October 11, 2011, accessed October 12, 2011 .
  29. ↑ Unusually badly organized. In: the daily newspaper . October 13, 2011, accessed October 17, 2011 .
  30. ↑ Attack on casino organized? In: ORF . November 2, 2011, accessed November 2, 2011 .
  31. ↑ David Luhnow and Jose de Cordoba: Casino Arrests Stir Scandal in Mexico. In: The Wall Street Journal . October 14, 2011, accessed October 14, 2011 .
  32. ↑ Peter Burghardt: A face of horror. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 2, 2012.
  33. ↑ 49 mutilated bodies discovered on Mexican expressway. In: Welt Online , May 13, 2012.
  34. ↑ Natalie Evans: More horror in Mexico: 49 mutilated bodies dumped on highway in latest drugs war clash. In: Daily Mirror , May 13, 2012 (English).
  35. ↑ Another blow against drug cartels. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , September 27, 2012.
  36. ↑ Mexico's navy arrests «El Taliban». In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , September 27, 2012.
  37. ↑ Mexico's Army: Boss of the drug cartel Zeta killed. In: Der Standard , October 9, 2012.
  38. ↑ Notorious drug lord arrested in Mexico. sueddeutsche.de, July 16, 2013, accessed on July 16, 2013 .
  39. ↑ Kidnapped blogger in Mexico: "An angel was killed". Spiegel Online, October 20, 2014, accessed October 20, 2014 .
  40. ↑ Cae líder de Los Zetas en Nuevo León ". El Norte, May 4, 2015, accessed on May 4, 2015 .
  41. ↑ Mexico town fears nightclub shooting means drug war has come . Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  42. ↑ At least 5 dead, 15 hurt in shooting at Mexico's BPM music festival . Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  43. ↑ Mexican cartel Demanded payment from BPM festival ahead of nightclub killings: source . Retrieved January 18, 2017.