Heriberto Lazcano, a Zetas leader, was killed in Mexico - but is the cartel done?

Heriberto Lazcano, a Zetas drug cartel leader, was killed in a northern Mexico gunfight on Sunday, according to the Mexican Navy. If true, it could be a major drug war victory for Mexico.

|
Mexico's Attorney General's Office/AP/File
This undated file photo, downloaded from Mexico's Attorney General's Office most wanted criminals Web page November 2010, shows alleged Zetas drug cartel leader and founder Heriberto Lazcano in an undisclosed location. The Mexican Navy says on Monday, Oct. 8, that Mr. Lazcano has apparently been killed in a firefight with marines in the Mexican northern border state of Coahuila.

It could be the greatest victory Mexico has seen in six years of bloody battle with drug organizations: A top Zetas drug cartel leader is believed to have been killed in a northern Mexico gunfight on Sunday.

The Zetas are the most reviled drug trafficking organization in Mexico, responsible for mass graves, brutal executions, mutilations, extortion, kidnapping, and jailbreaks across the country. And the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderón has been putting pressure on the group in recent months.

“It is a huge deal for the government,” says Ana Maria Salazar, a former Pentagon official and security analyst in Mexico City. “When you have organizations that are this dangerous, the government has to prioritize and go against those organizations that most exercise violence against society in general. It is a good strategy in that sense.”

‘The Executioner’ killed?

The founding leader, Heriberto Lazcano, who is known both as “El Lazca” and also “El Verdugo,” or "the Executioner," is believed to have been killed in Coahuila, in northern Mexico, in a Sunday fight that broke out between gunmen and the Mexican Navy.

"Information was obtained after the first forensics tests were carried out that yielded indications that suggest that one of the bodies is Heriberto Lazcano," the Mexican Navy said in a statement. "The Navy department is coordinating efforts with Coahuila state, and will be awaiting the conclusions of the forensics examination in the case.”

If it is confirmed, it would be a blow to one of the most ruthless organizations in a savage drug war that has taken some 60,000 lives in six years. Mr. Lazcano is a founding member of the Zetas, who are former elite Army deserters who also recruited “kaibiles” or elite Guatemalan soldiers. The group started as the armed enforcement for the Gulf cartel, before splitting in 2010.

While all of the drug organizations display unfathomable brutality, the Zetas are considered among the most vicious, the first to publicly display beheadings as an intimidation measure and leaving a signature 'z' at crime scenes. 

A double blow

This death comes as another Zetas suspect was arrested by the Navy in Nuevo Laredo, across from the Texas border. That suspect, Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo, was arrested during the weekend, according to the Navy. He is accused of leading of one of the most violent moments in the drug war: the massacre of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas in 2010. He is also linked to major jailbreaks in recent years and the infamous killing of David Hartley, an American, on Falcon Lake at the US-Mexico border.

Mr. Martinez’s arrest follows sustained pressure against the Zetas in recent months. Eduardo Guerrero, a security consultant, told The New York Times that he counts 17 major arrests of leaders of the Zetas over the past year.

The end of the Zetas?

But this does not mean the end of the Zetas. Analysts have said the group has splintered: “As we have seen in other parts of the country, this could lead to fragmentation,” says Javier Oliva Posada, a drug expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “It could mean an increase of violence in the short-term.”

Mr. Oliva Posada faults the Calderón administration for not having a full-scale strategy beyond simply going after top cartel leaders. That, with a dysfunctional justice system, has meant death tolls and levels of violence are at historic highs in Mexico. Many of those arrested are either let go because there is not enough evidence against them, or in some cases, they walk out of jail during jailbreaks.

“Regardless of what happens with Lazca, whether he was killed or not, the truth of the matter is that … the [Zetas] will continue with the business of drug trafficking,” says Ms. Salazar.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Heriberto Lazcano, a Zetas leader, was killed in Mexico - but is the cartel done?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/1009/Heriberto-Lazcano-a-Zetas-leader-was-killed-in-Mexico-but-is-the-cartel-done
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe