The winners got to become Zetas recruits, while the losers got death. 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. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia, The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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. Groups like Los Zetas have also been known to operate abroad, buying raw materials from Argentina and operating in Asian countries like Malaysia. 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. Its origins are traced toEl Milenio, a group that was allied to the Tijuana cartel. Among the first deaths in the conflict was Edgar Guzman, El Chapo's son. The implication of this is that Los Zetas continues to bolster its criminal operations through nontraditional and unexpected means. 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. [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. The criminal indictment claims that the former governor took bribes from drug cartels in exchange for official protection. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. In the 1990s, the aforementioned Cali cartel took the mantle from their Medellin rivals, becoming the most powerful cartel in the world. Breitbart Texas has consulted with relatives and friends of the Garcia family who said the Texas family had traveled to Ciudad Victoria with the children for the summer vacation. 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 two cartels enjoyed over a decade of business until the late 1990s, when the Gulf cartel had become self-sufficient. Exposed by a Zetas member under a pseudonym, the details of the bus vanishings remain disputed. The gang often kidnaps and holds poor migrants who try to operate outside the system for ransom. On March 13, 2013, De Leon and his father were apprehended by Border Patrol agents about three miles from the border near Comstock, TX. The handful of passengers lucky enough to be rescued confirmed their captors intended to recruit them. 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. 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." With their archenemy established, La Familia Michoacana set out to publicize themselves. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. WebThe Los Zetas used improvised weapons like knives, rocks, and burning mattresses. He claimed that the drugs came from the Zetas "comandantes" or commanders, which included Millan-Vasquez. All Rights Reserved. Countries militaries are dedicated to defense from external aggression and the protection of peoples lives and properties. 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. The Gulf cartel is among the oldest cartels in Mexico and has held varying degrees of power since its origins in 1984, according toInsightCrime. Trevino Morales became head of the Los Zetas cartel after the death of long-time leader Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano in October 2012. WebAlso dumbass the bitch on the far right was white "la cholla" or something she was called and she is was brutal as fuck. The rest of us agreed.". Islas suspects the kidnappings and brutal murders are a warning to smugglers who havent paid their dues to the Zetas. Instead, they were raped and beaten to death or vanished into a new life as cartel soldiers. Human smugglers often use buses to transport migrants north to the Texas-Mexico border. 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. [7] As usual, theyve also brought an unprecedented level of violence to the trade. 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Violence committed by the Juarez cartel is rife, especially from its La Linea faction, which has fighting the Sinaloa in Chihuahua City, contributing many deaths to the city's high 2020 murder rate (via FOX59). Follow @NewsHourWorld 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. 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. Velazquez started out stealing cars in his hometown of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and was jailed there. Her work has been featured in various national and international media outlets, including the Guardian, PBS, NPR and Marie Claire. First it was people with money, then it was anyone. Rather than prioritizing corruption like its competitors, Los Zetas has "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. 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. Then, in December 2015, Insider reported that La Familia founderCarlos Rosales Mendoza was found dead baring torture wounds. 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). Thank you. Then, on April 21, 2011, police arrested San Fernandos police chief and got a little closer to the truth. 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. With the Los Zetas fighting the Gulf Cartel for control of human trafficking networks, police corruption was no surprise. People began to disappear, said San Fernando priest Ramon Ruiz. 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. 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. Moraless most preferred method of killing was to stuff victims in oil barrels and set them ablaze. If Mexican governors have been indicted as Los Zetas collaborators, then there is a possibility that one day, the criminal organization could produce a governor from its ranks. Rival gang MS-13 may have the most terrifying tattoos (see featured image), but Los Zetas wins the prize for violence. They were forcibly recruited and haven't been paid or fed by their bosses. Reyna never heard back from the cartel, so he said that he contacted the Mexican government. 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. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. They ordered the informant be killed along with anyone and everyone associated with him. Elizabeth Shell Put in pairs and given sledgehammers, they were forced to fight each other. 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). The cartel member he spoke with was Jose Luis Rodriguez. She specializes in reporting on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border. 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. The cartels have now moved beyond drug violence to murdering busloads of civilians, and the government seems incapable of stopping it. In April 2019, CJNG killed 14 people in Minatitlan, a Zetas territory. 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. It was the second time in eight months that the town of 57,000 in the border state of Tamaulipas had been the site of mass graves. With Americans running the organization, winning the war against Los Zetas would be much more difficult. De Leon said that Millan-Vasquez would smile and laugh as he performed these killings. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. 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. According to reports in the BBC and Insight Crime, the latest cartel trend is the fragmentation of the drug trafficking landscape, especially in Mexico. CJNG's battles with the Los Zetas and CRSL cartels are similarly brutal. The 2011 San Fernando Massacre was both disturbing and, tragically, far from a one-off occurrence. Authorities investigating the massacre reported numerous hijackings of passenger buses on Mexican Federal 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. The find is indicative of cartel operations in Texas and the United States as a whole. He alleged that the victims were abducted from buses and killed for refusing to join the cartel or pay their way out. Most are extorted and let go or sold into prostitution. 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.