Cite some facts about the seven major Mexican cartels and how they operate. What are at least three proposed solutions offered (p.408-410) for reducing the influence of the cartels? Finally, is it imp

GAFE soldiers even received advanc ed training from military special operation units from Cuba and Brazil (DOJ, 2005; Grayson, 2008; Maldon Institute, 2009). Another researcher suggests that the original Zetas were second generation trained Mexican soldiers, not the original soldiers traine d by the U.S. military. Los Zetas formed from the ranks of Mexican soldiers that were trained by Mexican soldiers (Hale, 2009). 413 Currently, Los Zetas recruits from the pool of Mexican State Police, criminals, street gang members and civilian population. Los Zetas is^ known for its superior firepower, weapons handling, assault tactics, intelligence gathering expertise and brutality. Los Zetas have reported to operate through Mexico, but especially in the states of Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Sonora, Guerrero and Veracruz (Charlton, 2007). In Tamaulipas, Los Zetas presence has been noted in Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo. They are act ive throughout the gulf region of the country and the states of Tabasco, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Mexico City (Grayson, 2008). Los Zetas are known for their common - use of military tactics, automatic weapons, including grenade s and explosives. Los Zetas are responsible for shoot outs with Mexican local and Federal police the Army. The gang is highly organized and disciplined and criminal investigations have revealed the gang’s presence in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Californi a (DOJ, 2005). Between the para -military groups operating in Mexico there is almost an arms race going on. Gangs like Los Zetas have armed themselves with weapons of war including rocket propelled grenades, 50 caliber sniper rifles and grenades (Maldon Ins titute, 2009; Ellingwood and Wilkinson, 2009). Unlike traditional law enforcement and military Los Zetas virtually has an unlimited budget. This means the gang has the purchasing power for the most current weapon systems and the ability to pay handsomely for intelligence. This translates to the fact that often Mexican law enforcement is outgunned and outmanned when confronting a unit of Los Zetas. Law enforcement anecdotal evidence suggests that a large percentage of the weapons used by Los Zetas originate from the United States. This confirms the concept of arms trafficking from the U.S. into Mexico. At one time members of Los Zetas were known to wear military style uniforms. This includes military grade body armor. The members can be armed with AK and AR series automatic assault rifles, hand grenades, rocket propelled grenades (RPG) and global positioning equipment. Los Zetas are also known to drive armored vehicles such as Lincoln Navigators, and SUV type trucks, including Hummers. Law enforcement anecdo tal evidence also suggests that Los Zetas may have access to helicopters (DOJ, 2005). There is a vertical command leadership structure to this gang. The lowest ranking members of Los Zetas can be referred to as “Hawks” (halcones). These members function a s intelligence gathers who watch assigned area. Based on the comments from a former Zeta member, “there is nowhere to hide in Mexico because Los Zetas have bought off officers in the municipal police, state police, ministerial police, soldiers, federal pre ventative policy and military on the border.” This same former Zeta member also suggested that some Zeta units have specific ties with the Mara Salvatrucha gang. He claims that some current Los Zetas members were former members ofthe MS -13 gang (News Chann el 5,2006). Other members are in charge of stores or locations where drugs and other contraband are processed. Los Cobras or Los L’s provide armed security to the Los Zetas members working in these areas. There is another level of Zeta memberships called Nuevo Zetas and are also called Kaibiles. These members are former Guatemalan Special forces soldiers who have deserted and now work with Los Zetas. During operations the Nuevo Zetas appear to give orders to Los Cobras when to shoot or when to handcuff kid nap victims (Maldon Institute, 2009). There are relatively few original Los Zetas members left. Many are dead or in custody. Of those wlur remain they are the highest ranking members within Los Zetas v They are often referred to as “university graduates” o r “teachers” or “lawyers” or “engineers.” These are code names that are used in public or when talking on telephones in order not to be identified in case the conversation is monitored (Maldon Institute, 2009). Each Zeta unit has an accountant assigned to it. These positions tend to be held by the most trusted members of Los Zetas because they distribute payroll and bribes. The highest ranking accountant for the entire Zeta organization is known as Comandante Sol. The accountants also 414 Zetas have a list of the payroll listing the name of public officials being paid money by the gang. The gang also has informants and security details that guard the homes of unit commanders. The informants a re like assistants to the commander. The informants hav e no legal issues; can move around the city with no difficulty and have connections that the gang uses (Maldon Institute 2009). 6 v The Zetas have also been known to operate in platoon size units between 10 and 15 members using military style tactic in t heir operations. Due to the extreme levels of poverty in many parts of Mexico new member s can be easily drawn to the gang because they will pay approximately 3,000 peso per week; the equivalent of about $300 U.S. dollars per week (Charlton, 2007). A Mexic an soldier might make that pay per month. Other law enforcement anecdotal evidence has suggested Los Zetas can operate in smaller groups with three to four members in a vehicle. In 2003, the head of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas was arrested by Mexican law enforcement. Los Zetas continued to protect his interests in the cartel. The main rival for Los Zetas is the Sinaloa cartel headed by Joaquin “el Chapo” Guzman and battle ground for control of the 1 -35 corridor drug trafficking route through Texas was and still is the city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. This is the sister city of Laredo, Texas and is where the world Trade bridge is located. The Sinaloa Carte was and is the main rival of the Gulf Cartel. Subsequent to his arrest Osiel Cardenas was extradited t o the United States pending trial for drug trafficking and other charges (Maldon Institute, 2009). Since the arrest of Cardenas there is some law enforcement anecdotal evidence which suggests Los Zetas have evolved into its own drug trafficking organizati on. “The Zetas don’t ask the Gulf cartel for permission for anything anymore. They simply inform them of their activities whenever they feel like it” (Grayson, 2008). As a result there is fierce and brutal fighting between the gangs which includes the murd er of police officers and innocent bystanders. It appears that Los Zetas are involved in the trafficking of the crystal form of methamphetamine commonly known as “Ice.’ Diversification Los Zetas are also involved in human smuggling of Central Americans and Mexicans into the United States. There is some evidence that also suggests Los Zetas are involved in smuggling Middle Easterners from Mexico into the U.S. (DOJ, 2005). During the mid to late 1990s law enforcement anecdotal evidence suggested Los Zeta s had specifically targeted U.S. Border Patrol Agents other law enforcement officers. The gang reportedly placed a bounty on the agents ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 for each death (DOJ, 2005). In one case Los Zetas members allegedly kidnapped and executed several Mexican police officers form the city of Matamoros, Mexico. Kidnappings traced back to Los Zetas have increased over the years.

Between 2004 and 2005 the FBI reported 35 abductions of U.S. citizens within regions controlled by Los Zetas. From Jan uary to August, 2005 there were 202 kidnappings reported in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

Tamaulipas is the Gulf Cartel’s and a Fos Zeta’s operational center.

Many kidnappings go unreported by the family for fear of retaliation by Los Zetas (Swecker, 20 05). Here is another fact that supports the transnational nature of Los Zetas.

The gang has established an auxiliary gang composed of the children and nephews of Los Zetas. This gang is called “Los Zetillas.” Los Zetillas also recruits from the ranks of U .S. based Latino street gangs in Texas. It has been reported that for U.S. Latino street gang members to be initiated into Los Zetillas they have to commit a murder (History Channel, 2009). Los Zetas have set up training camps for 15 to 18 year - old recruit s. Los Zetas have also recruited members of the Kaibiles; these are specially trained Guatemalan jungle warfare fighters (Grayson, 2008). The internal training program for new members usually includes weapons use, explosives, personal defense and physical fitness (History Channel, 2009). The training camps have been 415 Chapter 6 - Transnational Gangs reported in locations south of Matamoros, Mexico across the border from Brownsville, Texas and a second venue just north of Nuevo Laredo airport, near th e town of Abasolo, Mexico (Grayson, 2008). To fully understand the impact Los Zetas can have you have to understand the changing dynamics of the drug cartels and the growing rivalries between them. For example, law enforcement anecdotal evidence suggested in 2004 the Gulf Cartel formed an alliance with the Tijuana Cartel. This alliance impacted rival cartels (Sinaloa and Jalisco).

The cartels were fighting over drug distribution routes and territory. This conflict led the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels to rec ruit their own paramilitary forces to protect themselves from Los Zetas who were the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel. The Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels established the “Los Negros,” “Los Lobos” and “Los Chachos” mercenary gangs in an effort to defeat Los Zetas. In 2005, the alliance between the Gulf and Tijuana cartels dissolved over a dispute, but the conflicts between the four cartels still remains (DOJ, 2005; NDIC, 2007). Los Zetas have evolved into a drug trafficking organization that in truly have tr ansnational connections with the United States, but also with Central America. The L.A. Times newspaper reported that much of the military grade weapons that Los Zetas use are purchased from contacts in Central America. The gang is taking advantage of the porous borders between Guatemala and Mexico. It has been suggested that the weapons are left over from the Central American civil wars. For example, military grade grenades have been found in 10 Mexican states. According to the L.A. Times “The Mexican gov ernment said it has seized 2,239 grenades in the last two years, in contrast to 59 seized over the previous two years” (Ellingwood and Wilkinson, 2009). Los Zetas have now become involved in the International arms Black Market.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that a wide sampling ofthe enhanced weapons have come from the international arms bazaar, with grenades and launchers produced by U.S., South Korean, Israeli, Spanish or former Soviet bloc manufacturers (Ellingwood and Wilkinson, 2009. Transnational Activ ities Anecdotal evidence law enforcement evidence also suggests that members of Los Zetas have been active in the United States. It is suspected that Los Zetas were responsible for the death of a Jamaican drug trafficker in Phoenix, Arizona when they dres sed as Phoenix Police SWAT officers in June, 2008. In Birmingham, Alabama, Los Zetas were suspected in the death of a number of Mexican men in August, 2008.

The victims’ throats were slashed and the money and drugs in the apartment were not touched (Maldon Institute, 2009). It is now very clear that the gang’s criminal activities have now moved north into the United States in a couple of ways. First, even though Los Zetas is based within the Gulf Cartel turf their transnational operations have lead to deve lopment of alliances and the recruiting of U.S. based gang members. Law enforcement anecdotal evidence suggests that Los Zetas has been involved in multiple assaults in the United States and have attempted to hire the services of the Mexican Mafia prison g angs for contract killings. There is some law enforcement evidence that also suggests Los Zetas use members of Barrio Azteca (BA) and Texas Syndicate (TS) and Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) as operatives in the United States (Maldon Institute, 2009; Grayson, 2008). Reaching out for U.S. based allies does not prevent Los Zetas members from entering the country .and conducting criminal activities themselves. That is the second way the gang can impact U.S. based gangs and criminal activity. According to the L.A. Times Los Zetas are suspected to be active throughout Arizona and at least 22 different U.S. states and the District of Columbia (Meyer, 2009).