Partners must notify. 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. Then, on April 21, 2011, police arrested San Fernandos police chief and got a little closer to the truth. In 2015, Los Zetas leader Morales was arrested in Mexico City. The 2010 San Fernando Massacre bore similarities to the June 2011 confession of Zetas member dgar Huerta Montiel. WebCartel Del Golfo interrogation 4 Zetas these bastards have admitted to raping women,killing women, killing kids. Aside from manufacturing illegal drugs and trafficking them, the gang is also into kidnapping and extortion. Elizabeth Shell 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 way in which the killers carried They would rape and kill the women and offer men a macabre choice. 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. In the 1990s, the aforementioned Cali cartel took the mantle from their Medellin rivals, becoming the most powerful cartel in the world. Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at, Abbott Wants to Deny Undocumented Kids a Public Education, Border Security Is a Financial Black Hole that Will Consume Us All, Two Executions, Many Questions about Mental Health, Innocence, Remembering a Social Justice Lawyer Extraordinaire. All Rights Reserved. With all this being said, the power and brutality of the gang seem to be waning. SAN ANTONIO, Texas - In San Antonio today, a federal judge sentenced 34-year-old Marciano Millan Vasquez, a high ranking member and a former sicario for the Los Zetas drug cartel, to seven consecutive life imprisonment sentences for committing and aiding and abetting the commission of numerous murders and other acts of violence, The LA Times found that from January 1988 to November 1991, drug traffickers killed up to 219 people in this area, disposing of their bodies in rivers. The U.S. State Department issued warnings not to travel to or within Tamaulipas, as a result. WebThere is a popular consensus that Los Zetas is the most brutal and inhuman drug cartel in history. Cartels have dominated the international drugs trade since the 1980s, earning many billions of dollars and killing tens of thousands of people in Mexico and Colombia alone (via Al Jazeera and Britannica). Facebook beheading video: Who was Mexico's Jane Doe? - BBC Victims were piled on top of one another haphazardly before the cartel used a backhoe to cover up their resting place. In August 2017, the cartel kidnapped 17 people and kept them in a stash house in Nuevo Laredo. Unlike some of its fragmenting rivals, CJNG's power is forecast to grow despite government pressure on their front companies and bank accounts. 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." 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. Los Zetas had begun to hijack buses along Federal Highway 101. With the suspects revealing what they had done, excavations began. Who knows what is going on in American Samoa. The witness said that the commanders kidnapped him and his two superiors until they paid what they owed for the seized load of marijuana. Los Zetas cartel members and San Fernando Massacre suspects being presented to the press on June 30, 2011. He alleged that the victims were abducted from buses and killed for refusing to join the cartel or pay their way out. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. She was known for being the crazy white one. This radio communication technology has given them a edge over Mexican law enforcement agencies for years. Thank you. 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. With the Los Zetas fighting the Gulf Cartel for control of human trafficking networks, police corruption was no surprise. WebSoon after the murder, Guzman became known as Z-1, and would become the founder of Los Zetas, literally The Zs: an organization that began as an elite security detail and would evolve across 12 years to become one of Mexicos most powerful criminal organizations. In and around Cali if the mafia doesn't like you, you just disappear.". It was around this time that the group established the aforementioned Los Zetas, a paramilitary force that brought a new organized violence to the international drug trade. However, PBS wrote that the Cali cartel did not inherit Escobar's public flair for violence, preferring to adopt a business faade in their international operation. 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. Los Zetass status as the largest drug cartel in Mexico carries additional implications. Marciano Millan-Vasquez, who was a member of the 'Los Zetas' organised crime gang, "brutally murdered anyone and everyone as it suited him and his cartel", the prosecuting lawyer said. They were forcibly recruited and haven't been paid or fed by their bosses. 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. Months after the casino attack, 49 decapitated bodies were dumped on a Monterrey highway (via Insight Crime/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. If you dont pay them, they will take your merchandise, he says. How could such a tragedy occur in San Fernando not once but repeatedly? Since then, BLO members have either been killed, jailed or defected to new splinter groups, such as the Guerreros Unidos and Los Rojos, which dabble in extortion, kidnapping and lethal violence. With Americans running the organization, winning the war against Los Zetas would be much more difficult. The Shrinking actor talks mental health, being queer, and why the Lone Star State is the perfect home for his new play Silver Foxes. 330 76 comments Best Add a Comment ComfortableSoup5 2 yr. ago 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.". Then, in December 2009, Arturo Beltrn Leyva was killed by Mexican marines. [7] As usual, theyve also brought an unprecedented level of violence to the trade. WebMarciano 'Chano' Millan Vasquez, 34, was jailed in San Antonio, Texas, for 29 killings carried out for notorious northern Mexican gang Los Zetas between 2009 and 2015, as well as When it was SAN ANTONIO -- A father whose son went missing in 2011 took the stand Wednesday in the federal trial of an alleged war commander for Los Zetas drug cartel. 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. Los Zetas was formed in 1997 to serve as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. In this pivotal year, Zetas occupied territory in 405 Mexican municipalities, which Insight Crime found was more than double that of their biggest rivals. By that point, however, more bodies had surfaced. 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. Mainly, Grayson notes a Zetalisation starting to occur among the other cartels. Los Zetas On March 13, 2013, De Leon and his father were apprehended by Border Patrol agents about three miles from the border near Comstock, TX. That's right the Wight bitch was the bad one and cut off heads with axes with her own hands. Picture taken from a TV screen showing Miguel Angel Trevino Morales by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images. [CDATA[ About two dozen have been captured or killed, including some from Los Zetas: Ivan Velazquez Caballero (aka El Taliban) You cannot underestimate the capabilities of a cartel whose founding fathers were trained by the U.S. military. Prosecutors asked De Leon why it took him so long to point out the defendant. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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. "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. Information obtained from authorities points to the victims being at the wrong place at the wrong time. If their relatives do not pay for their release, they may be killed and dumped into mass graves. The chief and 16 of his 25 men were questioned under suspicion of helping the Zetas abduct, kill, and bury the passengers. Initially, the group was led by Osiel Crdenas Guilln, who recruited around 30 alumni from Mexico's special forces. In August 2010, the Mexican military stumbled upon the bodies of 72 people bound and executed. Officials are still counting the dead, but, as of this writing, the bodies numbered nearly 200. 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. Instead, they were raped and beaten to death or vanished into a new life as cartel soldiers. Terrazas said the most corrupt was an elderly police officer and another named scar Jaramillo, who receive money from the organization to collaborate. Most troubling, however, is that The National Security Archive examining this memo stated that all 17 detained police officers had vanished from the public eye. Zetas WebOn behalf of Los Zetas." Mail Online Videos: Top News & Viral Videos, Clips & Footage Example video title will go here for this video. 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. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port, A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador, A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk, The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron, Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? Site made in collaboration with CMYK. Please check your inbox to confirm. Melissa is a 2016-17 Lannan Fellow at The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. 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. Graphic from a 2011 NDIC national drug threat assessment. Former Los Zetas worker: I was forced to witness brutal killings During the late '70s and 1980s, the Sinaloa Cartel worked with the Medellin cartel, establishing lucrative cocaine routes to the United States that spanned land, sea and air. Most are extorted and let go or sold into prostitution. They recovered deleted material, which included death threats from the defendant and information regarding Zetas operations. The cartel's influence has declined like many of its fragmenting peers, but their power remains strong inCiudad Jurez and the Valle de Jurez, which are key trafficking locations. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. [1] The deadly organization started out as the enforcement branch of the Mexican Gulf Cartel. With population of 60,000, San Fernando is near the Texas border and epitomizes cartel carnage. She released videos of her beheading the caught zeta members herself. In 2015, U.S. law enforcement discovered a marijuana field in Texas with a market value of $2 million. Not only are groups like Los Zetas interested in influencing politics, but Mexican politicians are equally interested in the dividends of the drug trade. President Felipe Caldern deployed the military against Mexicos cartels in 2007, and despite $1.6 billion in U.S. support, 35,000 civilians were now dead by 2011, with thousands missing. However, in the late 1990s/early 2000s, a set of El Milenio lieutenants rebelled and created their own cartel. 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. 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. Attorney Jeff Blackburn, a crusader for the innocent, fought injustices across Texas in his improbable, utterly original, and often profane life. Rather than prioritizing corruption like its competitors, Los Zetas has preferred to use paramilitary violence to seize territory and intimidate rivals, according toInsight Crime. Los Zetas - Wikipedia 4 There is a popular consensus that Los Zetas is the most brutal and inhuman drug cartel in history. 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. At one of the gory murders the horrific slaughter of a young girl he reportedly told her father the crime was "so you can remember me", before ordering the murder of both parents. Sadism was their brand. 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. It had only been a year since the 2010 The eventual split between the groups was described by theCongressional Research Serviceas"most violent in the history of organized crime in Mexico. Jeffrey Morris is a researcher and freelance writer with a passion for history and rarities. In April 2015, the group killed 15 police officers just weeks after killing five federal officers, which involved the use ofmachine guns and grenade launchers. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Justicedefines cartels as, "large, highly sophisticated organizations composed of multiple drug trafficking organizations (DTOs)and cells with specific assignments such as drug transportation, security/enforcement, or money laundering.". He created a company, Tremor Enterprises, to purchase racehorses for American contests, winning millions in prize money through fixing races and doping horses. The Zetas were notorious for their brutality, even by cartel standards. Gradually, the BLO began to weaken in this battle of attrition, losing many members to jail or death. This was back when Lazcano and Z-40 were still running the Los Zetas cartel. They told me to stop doing that," Reyna said in court. Extortion, smuggling, torture, possible harvesting of human body parts. 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. It was the first time the Attorney Generals Office declassified documents relating to the incidents, and proved authorities not only tolerated cartel activity but assisted it. He made a mistake in his greedbelieving he was invincible and untouchable. During a particularly emotional testimony on Wednesday, a former worker for Los Zetas said that he was kidnapped twice by the cartel and was forced to witness several violent acts. This wasnt the first time such a tragedy had visited San Fernando. [9] Local police rounded up migrants traveling by bus and handed them over to the gang. Millan-Vasquez faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to distribute narcotics, enticing minors to sell drugs, giving a false identification to authorities, and charges for at least nine murders in South Texas and Northern Mexico. He was arrested by the Mexican Navy in 2012. He frequently supervised killing experiments wherein new recruits were ordered to kill people with a machete or sledgehammer. Among these provincial traders and smugglers wasJoaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as "El Chapo.". Worse than any horror film: Inside a Los Zetas cartel kitchen As the two factions continue their fierce fighting, gunmen from the two groups have taken to social media and banners to deliver threats to each other. After learning about the 2011 San Fernando Massacre, take a look at 33 photos of the Mexican drug war. In this ghastly murder, the CDN faction appears to have struck first murdering the relatives of a state police officer and a farmers union leader. 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 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). GRAPHIC: Los Zetas Cartel Kill U.S. Woman and 2 Daughters 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. Some had been killed by sledgehammer. Since the war began, the fighting has resulted in daily kidnappings, shooting, drive by shootouts, beheadings, dismemberments and other gory executions. WARNING GRAPHIC: The Most Brutal Murders Linked to El Chapo Then, in December 2015, Insider reported that La Familia founderCarlos Rosales Mendoza was found dead baring torture wounds. The office's purpose was to collect debts from Escobar's extensive trafficking network. In 2017, the Mexican government extradited Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, a All of the Texas Observers articles are available for free syndication for news sources under the following conditions: You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. You have to have cartel cred being known as the meanest, most savage criminal organization in the Americas.. De Leon said that Millan-Vasquez would smile and laugh as he performed these killings. 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). 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. The kidnapping and murder of the SEIDO agents resembles the type of actions of another infamous Mexican crime group, the Zetas. Tamaulipas Lieutenant Governor Morelos Jaime Canseco Gmez admitted police were still looking for another bus of passengers. Human smugglers often use buses to transport migrants north to the Texas-Mexico border. There were only a few bullet casings at the scene, but one sledgehammer and bodies showing blunt trauma to the head. He has been in detention since his arrest in Texas in 2015. However, Insight Crime suggests that the large traditional cartels may be over as Mexico's criminal underworld becomes increasingly fragmented and scattershot. In the human smuggling business, migrants pay $100 to $200 upfront, then pay the rest once theyve reached the United States. The most dramatic episode of the weekend carnage took place on Saturday morning when gunmen with one faction of the Los Zetas cartel known as the Cartel Del Noreste burst into a home in order to murder four children, five women and two men. The first one they asked, he didn't want to work, and [cartel members] said, that's fine. He turned around, and they shot him in the head. Moraless most preferred method of killing was to stuff victims in oil barrels and set them ablaze. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Tamaulipas government, the children have been identified as Galilea Garcia Amaya, Mariana Garcia Amaya (both from Texas), Maria Pizana Carrizales and Estephania Guadalupe Pizana Carrizales. Mexico's largest and most powerful drug gangs are the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel. Rogue policemen are believed to have played a role in the deaths of 193 people, whose bodies were found in hidden graves in San Fernando in 2011, and 49 in Cadereyta in the state of Nuevo Leon in 2012. Whatever the motivations, the mass killings show just how little control the federal government exerts over Tamaulipas. Its origins are traced toEl Milenio, a group that was allied to the Tijuana cartel. In April 2019, CJNG killed 14 people in Minatitlan, a Zetas territory. 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. Locals also reported of the many corpses found in the Cauca River, which runs through Cali. Her work has been featured in various national and international media outlets, including the Guardian, PBS, NPR and Marie Claire.