Narcotics and drug trafficking in Mexico is an age old institution or crime. It is such a complicated and deeply impervious factor of the Mexican state, that for decades no government has been able to do anything about it really. Mexico is famously even referred to as a ‘failed state’ and drugs and narcotics plays a big role in that failure.
In a related incident, once again one gang has called for people to kill the members of another gang. A 5 minute long video showed beheading of a drug cartel hit man on video-sharing Web site YouTube, and its makers called on Mexicans to kill more members of the gang.
The two gangs have been identified as Gulf and Sinaloa gangs who have apparently raged this war for trafficking routes. President Felipe Calderon is taking on organized crime with thousands of troops sent to drug-plagued areas. Whether that will work or not is yet to be seen.
A message appearing on the video read
Do something for your country, kill a Zeta!
The Zetas are believed to be ex-army operatives serving as hit men for the Gulf cartel. The footage showed a man in his underwear tied to a chair with a “Z” written on his chest and the message: “Welcome, kill women and children. Continue Ostion.” It is unclear who Ostion is. One of the man’s legs was marked with the name “Lazcano,” possibly referring to Heriberto Lazcano, the suspected head of the Zetas.
It is further shown that the man is being interrogated about the Feb. 6 killing of five police officers and two secretaries in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco. The unseen interrogator repeatedly asks him about the killings, punching him several times until the man says he participated in the attacks. He is then beheaded. The footage ends with a message in red saying, “Lazcano you’re next.”
However, the records on YouTube indicate that the person who has posted the video goes by the username “matazetaregio.” Since this user has only this one video, there was no way to confirm the authenticity of the video or who made it.
Action was taken by YouTube when they removed the video two days after it was posted. It may bring into question the freedom in the hands of any criminal or prankster to put questionable videos on the Internet.
On the other hand, it may be that Mexican drug traffickers have begun videotaping their killings and carrying out beheadings, like Iraqi insurgents, to send a message to rival gangs or the government.
However, differences of methods can be seen between the Mexican criminals and Al Qaeda. In the Iraqi videos, however, the aggressors use knives to cut off their victims’ heads. In the Mexican video, the man is strangled by twisting a cord tied to metal rods until the pressure cuts through his neck.
Crime and terror is certainly on the rise in Mexico and stringent steps need to be taken, and taken now. Apparently, in attempts to terrorize those who oppose them, the gangs have placed severed heads on public display with threatening notes including one that read, “See. Hear. Shut Up. If you want to stay alive.” In another case, gunmen burst into a nightclub and rolled five heads onto the dance floor.
Via: MSNBC
