Don’t Panic, But Mexico’s Zetas Cartel Wants to Recruit Your Kids
- 04.18.13
- 6:30 AM
In this Oct. 24, 2012 photo, a soldier patrols near a
temple allegedly built by the drug cartel “Caballeros Templarios,” or Knights
Templar, that shows signs of vandalism allegedly left by the Zetas drug cartel
in Michoacan state, Mexico. Photo: Alexandre Meneghini/AP
As if bombs at the
Boston Marathon weren’t enough, the money-hungry Zetas drug cartel in Mexico
is making a big push to recruit Americans, the FBI warns. Only the bureau isn’t
exactly sure the Zetas’ apple-pie recruitment drive is a real threat.
That’s the
conclusion of a 2011 intelligence bulletin from the bureau’s San Antonio Field
Office, recently obtained by
Public Intelligence (.pdf). From 2010 to 2011, according to the FBI’s
contacts, the Zetas “attempted to recruit U.S.-based members in Houston, Texas,
to join Los Zetas’ war against the Gulf Cartel on both sides of the border.”
That includes
running and distributing drugs, and diversifying the cartel’s criminal portfolio
in the U.S. by running guns and targeting rivals. The cartel has also found a
supplier of AK-47 variant rifles from Texas-based Tango
Blast street gangs. It’s no wonder the Zetas use these guys. Tango Blast,
like the Zetas, have a relatively decentralized
structure, with no formal colors or strict hierarchy. This has allowed them
to flourish into becoming the state’s
largest gang and made them resilient
against law enforcement efforts to break them apart.
Beyond that, the Zetas have moved beyond its earlier practice
of recruiting from Mexican ex-cops and ex-soldiers, something that has given the
cartel a coherent, structured organization. Now the Zetas are seeking out U.S.
citizens, American gang members, and “non-military trained, non-traditional
associates to maintain drug trafficking and support operations.”
If you were a
Mexican drug lord, you’d want to hire Americans, too. American nationals give
the cartels’ illicit networks depth. They’re less likely to draw suspicion from
federal law enforcement agents stationed along the border and at 32 permanent
vehicle checkpoints inside the United States. In March, the Center for
Investigative Reporting found that most drug
traffickers arrested by the Border Patrol are U.S. citizens. In addition to
sending drugs north, the cartels need guns and money to come south — a tempting
source of extra income for U.S. citizens with cartel connections and the ability
to help launder cash.
But the FBI bulletin equivocated about how dangerous the
Zetas’ northern recruitment drive is. On the one hand, the bureau judges “with
moderate confidence that Los Zetas will likely pose a higher national security
threat to the United States.” But it concedes it lacks enough information to
“adequately assess the threat.” And the information the FBI collected indicates
the Zetas may actually be hindered by recruiting so many new goons.
Plus, it’s an open
question whether the American Zeta affiliates know how to evade law enforcement.
“With the recruitment of new members, Los Zetas have lost part of their
disciplined command and control structure needed to maintain order within the
organization, which is likely to hinder their ability to carry out complex
attacks and could increase the likelihood that [Mexican] officials may learn of
planned attacks or operations,” the bulletin states. Among their losses: kingpin
Heriberto Lazcano, killed by Mexican
marines in October 2012.
On the other hand,
cartel agents are appearing in more U.S. citizens, and further across the
border, than before. Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported the
cartels have moved some of “their
most trusted agents” to work inside the United States and take direct
command of drug distribution networks, which have traditionally been under the
thumb of domestic gangs. Anything to chase that paper.
Robert Beckhusen is
a writer based in Austin, Texas, where he covers Latin America for War Is Boring.
Follow @rbeckhusen on Twitter.
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