Narcoviolence Mexico

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Comment by Gergely Fliegauf on November 28, 2012 at 16:27

Dear James,

thank you for this information. I am very aware on the happenings at the US-Mexican border and the huge drug related problem in Mexico. I think I mentioned the case of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano.

I red also the book of Roberto Bolano, 2666 which I think describes the situation properly. Somehow I feel that this reluctance to not to intervene in a comprehensive way, is a shame also for the UN, not only for the US and Mexican government.

I am a bit more sad while reading your lines. 

Comment by James Creechan on November 28, 2012 at 15:07

There are thousands of criminals in Mexico who are Zetas or identify as Zetas. The government of Mexico has specifically targeted Los Zetas for eradication and control. There are arrests and takedowns of a "Zeta" or putative "Zeta" almost daily. Many of these major press announcements are simply bringing criminals to the scaffold for public consumption, and they involve arrests of petty criminals who are unlikely to be anything more than a low-level street thug.

On the other hand, there have been some major losses and raids on Zeta leaders. The most notable was the execution (it was little more than a planned killing) of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (alias el Lazca, el verdugo, el Z-3) happened in the State of San Luis Potosi about 2 months ago. After the execution, his body was stolen from the morgue and his remains were identified from autopsy photos. The government exhumed the body of his parents and was conducting DNA tests to confirm it was him.

The leadership of los Zetas seems to now be in the hands of Miguel Angel Trevino who is reportedly even more bloodthirsty and violent than any of the others.

The Mexican presidency will be handed over to a new president on Saturday (Enrique Peña Nieto), but his strategy (vaguely defined as of yet) has been operating and in place for the past 2 or 3 months during the transitional period. He appears to be in favour of eliminating the most violent groups because they are interfering with international trade and tarnishing Mexico's reputation as a tourist attraction. Peña Nieto's policy is thus favouring the more traditional cartels located in the western part of Mexico — in particular the cartel of the Pacific headed by El Chapo Guzman and El Mayo Zambada.

Comment by Gergely Fliegauf on November 28, 2012 at 14:17

What happened to the member of the Los Zetas, who was apprehended recently, I think in the last month, and he had a leading position in the cartell?