Los Zetashowever, were not convinced nor happy with Osiel's decision, because for them, 'a betrayal is a betrayal.

In MayEl Chacho was kidnapped in the city of Monterrey by members of Los Zetas, and eventually found dead in Tamaulipas, bearing signs of torture. This triggered a series of attacks and executions in Tamaulipas.

Nevertheless, El Chacho turned against the Osiel and the Gulf organization by deciding to work for the Sinaloa cartel and killing a Zeta member. No drug trafficking organization before the Sinaloa cartel had dared to take on the Gulf Cartel. Back in the early s, if a different drug trafficking organization wanted to traffic narcotics through a different corridor, they had to pay a fee to the cartel that controlled it. His organization began to kill police officers-forcing many to take a side with or against him-and assassinating rival cartel members.įor the first time in many years, the Mexican State was limited in its actions-and even surpassed-by the criminal organizations. It is believed that he had liberated five members of Los Zetas who had been detained during the armed confrontation.īetween 1 January and 1 August45 homicides were reported in Nuevo Laredo, along with 40 kidnappings. The vehicle the drug traffickers were in then caught on fire, and two of the gunmen were burned to death. The triggermen in the two vehicles then engaged in a gunfight with the AFI for minutes, but one of the vehicles collided with a police truck. During the chase, five armed men in another vehicle shot at the police convoy. Most media reports that write about the Mexican Drug Warhowever, point to as the start of the drug war.īut authors like Ioan Grillo and Sylvia Longmire note that Mexico's drug war actually began at the end of Vicente Fox 's administration in when the first major battle took place in Nuevo Laredo between the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetaswho at that time worked as the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel.Ĭonsequently, the AFI officers followed the truck with seven of their vehicles, triggering a shootout between the police officers and alleged drug traffickers. The drug-violence in Nuevo Laredo began back inwhen the city was controlled by the Gulf Cartel.

El blog del narco tamaulipas