One of the most violent criminal organizations, which has been linked to thousands of forced abductions in Mexico, has made a video where they claim not to be targeting civilians and asks the community to go about their daily lives. The video comes as there is intense pressure from the U.S. government to not only label hyperviolent cartels as terrorist groups but to eradicate them.
In the video, which was released this week by the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, a masked gunman stands in front of the camera, surrounded by several more gunmen, and delivers a message in Spanish. In the message, he claims that the criminal organization is not targeting civilians and that they are not behind any threats against U.S. or Mexican federal forces.
The video comes soon after gunmen from the CDN-Los Zetas had a series of large-scale gunbattles with the Mexican military in the streets of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. While only four gunmen died in those clashes, the intensity of the shootouts caused widespread panic as city officials asked the public to stay indoors until the violence ended.
The shootouts were tied to the arrest of regional commander Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, also known as Mando R or Ricky. On Monday, Mexico’s top security chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch, announced his arrest, claiming he was at the top of the leadership of the CDN-Los Zetas when, in fact, he is just a regional commander. In the aftermath of the arrest, numerous social media messages began to move throughout Nuevo Laredo warning the public that the city was going to be put in curfew as the CDN-Los Zetas would be carrying out attacks against Mexico’s military and also be targeting both U.S. and Mexican federal officials.
As Breitbart News has reported, the arrest of Mando R, came just moments after U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had a phone call over postponing a series of punitive tariffs against Mexico for not doing enough to stop drug cartels and human smuggling. The CDN faction of Los Zetas has been linked to numerous cases of forced disappearances and mass killings in the regions that they control.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at
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