Los Zetas
| Los Zetas | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano |
| Dates of operation | 1999–present |
| Active regions | Mexico |
| Allies | Gulf Cartel |
Los Zetas is the criminal mercenary army for Mexico's Gulf Cartel.[1][2][3][4] The group was founded by former Mexican Army elite soldiers and is now formed by ex-federal, state, and local police officers, as well as ex-Kaibiles, bringing a total force of over 4000 men.
Los Zetas are now led by Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano and are considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as probably being the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and violent of paramilitary enforcement group.[5] Los Zetas have expanded their negotiations to the rest of the world, now having deals in Italy with the 'Ndrangheta.[6]
Etymology
The group's name Los Zetas is given after it's first leader, Lieutenant Arturo Guzmán Decena, whose Federal Preventive Police radio code was "Z1",[7] a code given to high-ranking officers.[2][3][4]
History
In the late 1990s, the Gulf Cartel leader, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, wanted to track down and kill rival cartel members as a form of protection. He began to recruit former Mexican Army’s elite Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE) soldiers, originally trained in counter-insurgency and locating and apprehending drug cartel members. It is believed that they were originally trained at the military School of the Americas in the United States[8][9] and by other foreign specialists of the United States, France and Israel. They were trained in rapid deployment, aerial assaults, marksmanship, ambushes, small-group tactics, intelligence collection, counter-surveillance techniques, prisoner rescues and sophisticated communications.
Cardenas Guillen's top recruit, Lieutenant Arturo Guzmán Decena, brought with him approximately 30 other GAFE deserters enticed by salaries substantially higher than those paid by the Mexican government. The role of Los Zetas was soon expanded, collecting debts, securing cocaine supply and trafficking routes known as plazas and executing its foes, often with grotesque savagery.[2][5]
After the Mexican Army killed Guzmán in November 2002 and captured his second-in-command, Rogelio González Pizaña on October 2004, Heriberto Lazcano ascended to the leadership of the paramilitaries. In response to such aggressive efforts on the part of the Zetas to defend and control its smuggling corridors to the United States, the rival Sinaloa Cartel established its own heavily-armed enforcer gang, Los Negros. The group operates in a similar fashion to the Zetas but with less complexity.
Upon the arrest of Gulf Cartel boss, Osiel Cardenas Guillen in 2003, it is believed Los Zetas began transporting their own drug shipments through former Gulf Cartel routes[4] and made a collaboration pact with the Beltran Leyva brothers gang to head the cartel.[10][11]
Organization structure
Los Zetas have set up camps in which to train recruits as well as ex-federal, state, and local police officers. In addition, they have invited into their ranks ex-Kaibiles from Guatemala. Current estimates place Los Zetas around 4000 members strong, which includes several rogue Kaibil members. Los Zetas' training locations have been identified as containing the same items and setup as GAFE training facilities, it is also further believed the group employs the same internal organizational structure.
Los Zetas are primarily based in the border region of Nuevo Laredo, with hundreds more throughout the country. In Nuevo Laredo it is believed they have carved the city into territories, placing lookouts at arrival destinations such as airports, bus stations and main roads.[3]
Tactics
The group is extremely well armed, they wear body armor and some wear Kevlar ballistic helmets; their arsenal includes AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, MP5 submachine guns, 50 cal. machine guns, grenade launchers, surface-to-air missiles, dynamite and helicopters.[5] They are known to operate with modern wiretapping equipment and purchase the cellular phone codes of their intended targets directly from the phone companies and providers[citation needed].
Los Zetas is known to operate with a higher tactical degree than the local authorities. During one shootout against law enforcement the group employed grenade launchers and 50 cal. machine guns.[2] The group has been linked to monitoring and kidnapping of journalists, and the murder of rival cartel members and their families.[3] Los Zetas gang has been known to hire local gangs such as the Texas Syndicate, MS-13 and Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos to carry out contract killings.[3][12]
Often, Los Zetas operate while uniformed as Federal Preventive Police and driving similarly labeled vehicles. In addition to conducting activities along the border, they are visible throughout the Gulf Coast region, in the Southern states of Tabasco, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Chiapas, and in the Pacific Coast states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Michoacán, as well as in Mexico City.[13] Evidence also indicates that they may be active in Texas and, possibly, other U.S. states.[14]
There are several other Los Zetas groups in addition to commandos:
- Los Halcones (The Hawks) keep watch over distribution zones and use 2 meter radio band.
- Las Ventanas (The Windows) comprise bike-riding youngsters in their mid-teens who whistle to warn of the presence of police and other suspicious individuals near small stores that sell drugs.
- Los Mañosos (The Tricky Ones) acquire arms.
- Los Leopardos (Leopards) are prostitutes who slyly extract information from their clients.
- Dirección (Command) are approximately 20 communications experts who intercept phone calls, follow and identify suspicious automobiles, and even accomplish kidnappings and executions.[5][15]
Los Zetas are involved in myriad criminal activities. They have branched out into kidnappings, murder-for-hire, extortion, money-laundering and human smuggling. For security purposes, Los Zetas have adopted a cell-like structure to limit the information that any one member of the organization knows about his associates.
Law enforcement raids
Following a joint investigation, titled Operation Black Jack, by the ATF, DEA, ICE and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the FBI, two Zeta safe houses were identified and raided, recovering over 40 kidnapped individuals.[3]
On October 26, 2008, the Washington Times reported of an FBI warning that the Zetas' cell in Texas are to engage law enforcement with a full tactical response should law enforcement attempt to intervene in their operations;[16] their cell leader has been identified as Jaime González Durán (The Hummer), who was arrested on November 7, 2008 in the border city Reynosa, Tamaulipas.[17] In this operation, three safehouses in Reynosa were raided by elements of the Mexican Federal Police and Mexican Army, yielding the largest weapon seizure in the history of Mexico; it consisted in 540 rifles, 287 grenades, 2 M72 LAW rocket launchers, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 67 ballistic vests and 14 sticks of TNT.[18][19]
Cartel alliances
While in prison, the head of the Tijuana Cartel, Arellano Felix and Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, forged an alliance against the Sinaloa Cartel and its ally the Juarez Cartel. As a result, the cartels are now largely aligned into two blocks, some which support the Gulf Cartel and others which support the Sinaloa Cartel.[20] It is these two blocks that are involved in the massive and violent turf wars which are currently being carried out in northern Mexico.
- La Familia Michoacana
- The Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel began to contest the Gulf Cartel’s domination of the coveted southwest Texas corridor following the arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas in March 2003. The Federation is the result of a 2006 accord between several smaller drug cartels; it is led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker.
- The Juarez Cartel
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes heads the Juarez Cartel. The cartel had become factionalized between groups loyal to the Carrillo family and groups loyal to Guzman Loera's Sinaloa Federation.
- The Tijuana Cartel
The cartel of the Arrellano-Felix family, the Tijuana Cartel was once among Mexico's most powerful but has fallen on hard times, thanks to the arrests of several top capos. The cartel entered into a brief partnership with the Gulf Cartel. It has been the frequent target of Mexican military confrontations and might be breaking into smaller groups.
- The Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, has been one of Mexico's two dominant cartels in recent years. It is strengthened by its armed wing Los Zetas. The cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, was extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and is currently awaiting trial in Houston.
References
- ^ Oscar Becerra, "New Traffickers Struggle for Control of Mexican Drug Trade," Jane's Intelligence Review, September 1, 2004.
- ^ a b c d Bunker, Robert (2005). Networks, Terrorism and Global Insurgency. Routledge. p. xv. ISBN 0-41534819-6.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d e f Weak bilateral law enforcement presence at the U.S.Mexico border. Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. 2005.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Texas Monthly On . . .: Texas True Crime. University of Texas Press. 2007. p. 44. ISBN 0-29271675-3.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d Grayson, George. "Los Zetas: the Ruthless Army Spawned by a Mexican Drug Cartel". U.S. Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ Anderson, Curt. "talia - 'Violencia' se escribe con ZETA: Los zetas toman el control por la forza. Nicola Gratteri, zar antimafia de Reggio Calabria". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ Los Zetas: Evolution of a Criminal Organization - March 11, 2009
- ^ Thompson, Ginger (September 30, 2005). "Mexico Fears Its Drug Traffickers Get Help From Guatemalans". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
- ^ Laurie Freeman, State of Siege: Drug-Related Violence and Corruption in Mexico, Washington Office on Latin America, June 2006
- ^ Gómez, Francisco (Agosto 17 de 2008). "Los 'Zetas' por dentro; los entrenan en Coahuila" (in Spanish). Vanguardia. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Corchado, Alfredo (June 11, 2007). "Cartel's enforcers outpower their boss". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Ruben Mosso, 'El MIlenio" “FBI: Los Zetas liroblema de seguridad nacional liara EU,” January 9, 2008
- ^ Alejandro Gutierrez, "Narcotráfico: El gran desafío de Calderón." Mexico City: Lilaneta, 2007, Chapters 1 and 5.
- ^ "Los Zetas: the Ruthless Army Spawned by a Mexican Drug Cartel" (in Spanish). 2008-05-00.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ Alejandro Suverza, “Los Zetas, una liesadilla liara el cartel del Golfo,” El Universal, January 12, 2008, li. 1; and Martínez, “El lider de Los Zetas’.”
- ^ Carter, Sara A. (October 26, 2008). "FBI warns of drug cartel arming". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Roebuck, Jeremy (November 7, 2008). "Top Gulf Cartel leader arrested in Reynosa". The Monitor. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "El Ejército decomisa el mayor arsenal hallado en la historia de México" (in Spanish). Union Radio. 07 de Noviembre de 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Largest cartel weapons cache found in Mexico". Associated Press. November 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "The Mexican Drug Cartels Update May 2008". The Right Side News. May 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
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