Today in Cancún, police were led to an abandoned Jeep with three dead men announcing a new group, the Mata Zetas, or the Killers of Zetas. The Zetas are the armed forces of the Gulf Cartel that controls drug trafficking on Mexico’s Caribbean coast as well as the extortion and kidnapping plazas within many other states.

The three male subjects whose ages are between 35 and 40 were found handcuffed with their feet tied, their faces completely covered with industrial tape and plastic bags taped over their heads. There was no evidence of torture, the official cause of death has been ruled asphyxiation. Found on the bodies were white poster boards where the following message was written:

We are the new group of Zeta Killers. We are against kidnappers and extortion. We will fight against them in every state in effort to make Mexico cleaner.

Apart from the warning message, the killers made three anonymous telephone calls, one to the newspaper POR ESTO, a local radio station, and the police station informing each one of a suspicious jeep liberty with men inside who appeared not be moving.

On June 16, in Uruapan, Michoacan, an anonymous call was made to the Perla del Cupatitzio police stating there were to dead men in
Zumpimito square.

Police arrived to find two men decapitated and completely dismembered with the letter ‘Z’ carved into both their backs and chests. The limbs were removed completely from both bodies and halved at both the elbows and knees creating 10 pieces from each body. The pieces were scattered within a 3 meter radius with a sign left in a bloody plastic bag stating:

“Welcome to Michoacan ‘Z’ assholes”

While los Zetas are fairly new as a cartel of their own, they are by far the most feared and known for their acts of torture, kidnapping, and extortion. This is not the first time that the deaths of members of the Zeta organization have made news. Back in April of 2007, a YouTube video appeared entitled “Haz patria mata a un Zeta“, or “Be Patriotic and Kill a Zeta“, showing the decapitation of a presumed drug cartel member who had confessed to killing six members of Mexico’s police forces in Acapulco. It has never been made clear if this, as well as the new Zeta killings, was an extra-judicial murder carried out by members of Mexico’s law enforcement authorities, rival drug gangs, or citizens who have simply had enough.