Los zetas who is leader

However, two things generally remain the same: their rivalry with their former parent organization the Gulf Cartel, and their rivalry with the Sinaloa Cartel. Nevertheless, even this may be changing in the Zetas' current fragmented state where alliances and disputes are more localized.

It is unclear how much of this network now remains. However, this does not mean the name will fade any time soon. Instead, they are likely to continue the process of fragmentation, and splinter cells like the Northeast Cartel will continue to operate with an increasingly local focus on their criminal activities. We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article.

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Leadership The Zetas as an unified criminal organization no longer exists. Geography The Zetas criminal empire once had a presence that stretched across Mexico, with their stronghold stretching from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey.

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Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Christopher Woody. Mexico took down another regional leader in the Zetas cartel. Jose Maria Guizar Valencia was one of high-priority organized-crime targets, and his capture comes as the cartel continues to splinter. He reportedly oversaw the Zetas' trafficking operations in southern Mexico, but it's not clear what effect his arrest will have on the cartel's operations.

Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know. Loading Something is loading. In a separate case, three alleged members of a Los Zetas hit-team attacked an undercover informant while he was delivering a truckload of marijuana outside of Houston in mid-November.

It was an example of an unprecedented use of force and an indication of the ongoing feud between Los Zetas and their former masters in the Gulf Cartel, who investigators believe owned the load. By the end of , and despite ongoing spats with the Gulf Cartel, it was clear to analysts that Los Zetas had surpassed their former masters by becoming the second most powerful criminal organization in Mexico. Only the Sinaloa Cartel stood in the way of domination, although the paramilitary force apparently gained in influence across the country even as the Sinaloa Cartel lost footing, according to Mexican analysts.

Internal Split In and , Los Zetas weathered a systematic attack from both rivals and the Mexican government that would have destroyed most criminal organizations.

Heriberto Lazcano, by contrast, is a military strategist focused on the core strength of his accounting methodology, on training and recruiting, and on staying alive.

Invariably, the two men have grown apart, and some in Mexico believe that Trevino has grown tired of his second in command post. Although the Los Zetas are powerful, they are the weaker of the two largest Mexican organizations, and therefore a low-hanging fruit. As Calderon pushes hard to dismantle Los Zetas, evidenced by the January 13, arrest of Luis Jesus Sarabia Ramon, a high-ranking operator in the state of Nuevo Leon, the resulting stress on the organization, combined with the potential for Trevino to sabotage Lazcano, could force it to split into at least three separate mid-sized organizations: Los Zetas norte, Los Zetas central, and Los Zetas Guatemala.

From to , Mr. Logan lived and worked in Central and South America. Logan has an MA in international policy studies, with a specialization in the economics of black markets from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

He is a regular speaker on organized crime, small arms and light weapons, corruption and drug trafficking.