Drug-related violence in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, the major portal for U. Within six hours, he lay in a thickening pool of blood after hit men believed to belong to Los Zetas paramilitary force fired more than 30 bullets into his body.
Their message was clear: narco-traffickers control the streets of Nuevo Laredo. They also accounted for more than 4, deaths during the past two yearsβwith the figure spiraling to by April 18 of this year. A reluctant U. Congress, which is now pondering the program, may not act until after the November election.
Of narco-trafficking organizations, two stand out in terms of suborning officials, amassing resources, and authoring violent acts: the Gulf Cartel, headquartered just below Texas in Tamaulipas state, and its chief rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, centered in Sinaloa state that nestles between the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
In cooperation with their U. Foreign specialists, including Americans, French, and Israelis, instructed members of this elite unit in rapid deployment, aerial assaults, marksmanship, ambushes, intelligence collection, counter-surveillance techniques, prisoner rescues, sophisticated communications, and the art of intimidation. It is ironic that loyal Gafes helped to capture kingpins such as Cardenas Guillen, whom Gafes-turned-Zetas were hired to safeguard.
Los Zetas have set up camps in which to train recruits aged 15 to 18 years old, as well as ex-federal, state, and local police officers. In addition, they have invited into their ranks ex-troops from Guatemala known as Kaibiles. If I stop, urge me on. If I retreat, kill me. Their arsenal includes AR and AK assault rifles, MP5s submachine guns, mm machine guns, grenade launchers, ground-to-air missiles, dynamite, bazookas, and helicopters.
