Weekly InSight | 21 December 2012



Features
Special Investigation: The Zetas and the Battle for Monterrey
The Zetas’ top leader is dead and the group is seemingly splitting into pieces, but they remain Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s biggest security challenge. In this context, InSight Crime delves into the battle for Mexico’s industrial capital, Monterrey, getting to the essence of a criminal gang that defies easy definition (download full report in PDF).

Part I - How the Zetas Took Monterrey
The Zetas have many sides. The group is at once sophisticated and ruthless, coordinating multi-caravan ambushes and sending hooligans to launch a wild assault on a police station. It has gang-bangers and Special Forces snipers on its payroll. It uses a sophisticated radio system and a machete in the same operation.

Part II - The Zetas and Monterrey Math
Just days after the fire at the Casino Royale, authorities captured five suspects, one of whom was a state policeman. Officer Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla later admitted to investigators that he was a member of the Zetas. Investigators told the press that he had various jobs, including as a lookout during operations like the tragic shakedown at the Casino Royale and driving members of the criminal gang in stolen vehicles.

Part III - The Battle for Monterrey
The Zetas have been splitting at the seams since at least the middle of 2012. Various commanders have declared war on each other, and the new top commander, Miguel Treviño, alias "Z-40," is scrambling to keep the organization intact.

Analysis
The Struggle to Survive in the Most Violent Country in the World
El Universal's Pablo Ferri provides a series of snapshots illustrating one of the main factors behind crime and violence in Honduras: the ability of drug traffickers to influence law enforcement and judicial officials with ease.

The Future of Marijuana Legalization in Mexico, the US?
A medical marijuana dispensary in the United States Mexico security analyst Alejandro Hope looks forward 25 years after the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington to find a world where experimentation with drug legalization has become common place, though not without its perils.

Mexico Has 80 Drug Cartels: Attorney General
Mexico’s new attorney general put the number of drug cartels operating in the country at up to 80, reflecting a radical decentralization of power and profusion of smaller gangs in the Mexican underworld.

News
Marijuana Shipment Found on Colombian Military Plane
Some 25 kilograms of marijuana were discovered on a military plane after it landed at an air base in central Colombia, raising questions about the extent of the the armed forces' involvement in the drug trade.

Rumours of Links to Organized Crime Surround Jenni Rivera's Death
The plane crash in which Mexican American singer Jenni Rivera and five others died last week may have been related to a spat she allegedly had with the Zetas, an unidentified source told the Huffington Post, although these claims have not been confirmed.

Peru Considers Sweeping Law Aiding Criminal, Terrorist Investigations
Peru's Congress is currently considering a legislative package intended to aid the security forces in the fight against organized crime and terrorism, which would increase the penalties for those accused of promoting "terrorist" propaganda, among other measures.


More News

Multimedia
Rice University's Baker Institute takes a look at Mexico's "kingpin strategy" against cartels.