The TCO known as Los Zetas is one of roughly seven major TCOs currently operating in Mexico. Los Zetas actually used to be the enforcement arm of the Gulf cartel, under the management of drug lord Osiel Cárdenas Guillen. In the late 1990s, Cardenas Guillen began recruiting a private army from the ranks of Mexico’s special forces soldiers to protect his territory, personnel, and drug trafficking operations. The original members of Los Zetas came from the Special Forces Airmobile Group, also known as GAFES, and were arguably the most highly trained soldiers in the Mexican army. The original Zetas, and ostensibly many current members who received training from older members, are trained in surveillance and countersurveillance, urban warfare tactics, hostage rescue, prison escape, and the use of assault weapons and explosives.
Due to intense Mexican government action against the Gulf cartel in 2006 and 2007, Los Zetas suffered a significant loss of personnel. They decided to essentially subcontract out to the Kaibiles, a similar special forces outfit in Guatemala. The Kaibiles are known for their brutal jungle training program, and have been involved in several unorthodox killings by direction of previous corrupt governments. The current incarnation of the Kaibiles is responsible for counterdrug operations in Guatemala, but many of them found that working as enforcers in Mexico with Los Zetas was much more lucrative than remaining in the Guatemalan army.
Cárdenas Guillen was jailed in 2003, but managed to more or less effectively run the Gulf cartel from prison, with the assistance of Los Zetas leadership. That changed after he was extradited to the U.S. in 2007. By that point, Los Zetas had regained their strength, and learned much about the Mexican drug trade. In 2008, Los Zetas subtly began the process of running their own drug operations, while continuing enforcement actions and even branching out into kidnapping for ransom, human smuggling, and extortion. Zetas management retained ties to Gulf cartel leadership, but the relationship was often strained. In March 2010, those tensions reached a breaking point, and the split between Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel became official. The two organizations are currently battling it out for territory and smuggling routes in Mexico’s Tamaulipas state.
Los Zetas have taken a disturbing turn for the worse in the last year. In August 2010 near the town of San Fernando, they massacred 72 innocent Central American migrants who were on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. The migrants were told they could join Los Zetas, pay a ransom, or be executed. Tragically, the migrants refused the first two options. In February 2011, members of Los Zetas shot two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents near San Luís Potosí, seriously injuring one and killing the other. In March 2010, Mexican authorities began discovering mass graves containing over 200 bodies of innocent Mexican citizens who had been snatched off public buses by members of Los Zetas, and executed for refusing to join the group or pay ransom.
(Chart below by Strategic Forecasting)
