Fighting Among Leaders And Internal Divisions Weaken 'Los Zetas' Cartel

"Los Zetas", one of the most violent Mexican drug cartels, could be undergoing a process of instability caused by its multiple internal differences.

The war against cartels which has created generalized violence in many Mexican municipalities has intensified since the end of President Felipe Calderón's term. However, the administration of current President Enrique Peña Nieto has managed to make significant strikes against this criminal organization with the arrest of Miguel Ángel Treviño, "Z-40", in June being one of the most important.

According to a report published in news website Terra, the internal quarrels that Treviño created in many cells of the criminal group could manifest in a splitting of the cartel.

Since 2012 when "Los Zetas" first split and Treviño replaced founder Heriberto Lazcano "El Lazca" as the leader of the cartel, Mexican authorities highlighted Treviño's brutality who was known among rivals for getting rid of his enemies by putting them inside oil drums, spraying them with gasoline and setting them on fire, reported then Animal Político.

The Fractures of "Z-40"

According to Univisión, in 2009 Lazcano, leader of "Los Zetas", put Treviño in charge of assigning bosses for the various drug trafficking regions in Mexico. However, "El Lazca" didn't care about the grudges and the hate many of his men had for Treviño over money and women among other frictions.

When Treviño replaced Lazcano (who was later eliminated by Mexican Army units, reported then newspaper Milenio), many bosses began to express their differences against Treviño, differences that led to internal fractures of the criminal organization.

The most infamous ruptures Teviño had with other "Zetas" bosses were with Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, "Tony Tormenta", who Treviño removed from his position as boss of the Cancún region, "because he wasn't productive".

Later on, in 2012, the Velázquez Caballero brothers, "The Talibans", who operated in the states of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Coahuila, Aguascalientes and Guanajuato, were also accused by Treviño of not being "productive".

"Los Zetas" Now

Plagued by infighting, the many different cells of the group were deep in bloody clashes since before Lazcano's death, who was eliminated by the Army in 2012, to take power from Treviño.

According to an investigation carried out by Mexico's Reporte Índigo, since the beginning of 2012, "Zetas" cells accused Treviño of ratting out colleagues who were then eliminated or arrested by the Army, with Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Coahuila and Nuevo León being the locations for violent clashes among "Zetas".

The attrition from these disputes led to the capture of many "Zetas" leaders, with the capture of "Z-40" being the hardest blow against the organization.