Zetas, originally established as an enforcement wing of the narco-trafficking Gulf Cartel, but now a paramilitary militia in its own right

"Although they wore ski masks, everyone knew who they were with their machineguns and uniforms," said Gabriela. This brazen display of strength was carried out by the Zetas, originally established as an enforcement wing of the narco-trafficking Gulf Cartel, but now a paramilitary militia in its own right, highly trained in combat and probably the most powerful drug-trafficking organisation in the world.The cartel was founded in the 1970s but emerged in its modern form in the mid-1980s, led by Juan García Abrego (now in a Colorado jail) and thereafter Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who founded the Zetas and who is now awaiting trial in Houston, Texas....

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Mexican police were protecting the Zetas.

"La Barbie" a leader of the rival Sinaloa cartel, took out a full page advert in a Mexico City daily newspaper, to allege that Mexican police were protecting the Zetas.For their part, the Zetas have long complained that the Sinaloa cartel enjoys police protection.Despite debacles surrounding the Zetas and increasing violence, Deare - who physically resembles the tough but fair minded under-secretary of defence played by Harrison Ford in the fictional drug war thriller Patriot Games - thinks Mexico needs more, not less, US involveme...

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Zetas' alleged current leaders, Heriberto Lazcano, known as Z-3 and Miguel Trevino, or Z-40, were first recruited by Osiel Cardenas

group has mounted the severed heads of its victims on pikes in urban areas, posted torture and execution videos on the internet, forced poor migrants into prostitution and massacred college students during house parties."Other cartels have accused them of not following the 'gentlemen's code' of drug trafficking and causing undue violence," Bricker told Al Jazeera."At one time, it was considered bad form to kill pregnant women, but not any more." For safety concerns, Bricker didn’t want to say where she lives in Mexico.Deare estimates "probably more than 500" GAFE personnel received special forces training. He is unsure exactly how long the programme...

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Founders of the Zetas drug gang learned special forces techniques at Ft. Bragg before waging a campaign of carnage.

Despite the deployment of 50,000 troops, Mexico seems to be losing the 'war on drugs' [AFP](U.S. BORDER WITH MEXICO) - It was a brutal massacre even by the gruesome standards of Mexico’s drug war: 72 migrant workers gunned down by the "Zetas" - arguably the country's most violent cartel - and left rotting in a pile outside a ranch in Tamaulipas state near the US border in late August.The Zetas have a fearsome reputation, but the real surprise comes not in their ruthless use of violence, but in the origins of where they learned the tricks of their bloody trade.Some of the cartel's initial members were elite Mexican troops, trained in the early 1990s by America’s 7th Special Forces Group or "snake eaters" at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, a former US special operations commander has told Al Jazeera.“They...

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killing of a cruiser near a popular beach in St. Thomas earlier this year has sparked some big changes in the area

The killing of a cruiser near a popular beach in St. Thomas earlier this year has sparked some big changes in the area, according to a report today in the Virgin Islands Daily News.The news outlet says Coki Point Beach has undergone a massive cleanup over the past three months that has made it safer for locals and tourists alike.Carnival passenger Lizmarie Perez Chapparro died in July after being caught in the middle of a shootout between warring gangs near the beach. The Associated Press reported at the time the girl was struck by a bullet as she rode with her family on a "safari bus" that ferries tourists across the island.The girl and her family had arrived in St. Thomas earlier in the day aboard the 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory.St. Thomas in recent years has been the scene of a growing...

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14 members associated with two gangs arrested since April during this crackdown. The gangs are the 13 Avenue Hot Boyz and the 12 Court Cowboys

dozen known gang members are off the streets along with 31 illegal weapons after Miami police went on the offensive in Operation Hammerhead. At a news conference Wednesday morning, Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito announced the results of Operation Hammerhead, a several month operation designed to reduce crime in the city's Liberty Square Project. In all, Chief Exposito said police got 31 guns off the street and made 14 arrests of gang members responsible for violent crimes. The big priority was getting the illegal weapons off the street. "This is the type of weapon we've taken off the street," said Chief Exposito as he held up an assault rifle. "This particular rifle was stolen in North Carolina." The weapons, displayed on a two tables for reporters, could have taken many lives, according...

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