Arturo Guzmán Decena
Arturo Guzmán Decena | |
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Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales | |
Battles/wars | Chiapas conflict |
Arturo Guzmán Decena (13 January 1976 – 21 November 2002), also known by his code name Z-1, was a Mexican Army Special Forces officer and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. He defected from the military in 1997 and formed Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's former paramilitary wing, under the leadership of the kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén.[1]
Guzmán Decena was born in a poor family in
He began to take bribes from the Gulf Cartel while still serving in the military, but eventually defected to work full-time for the criminal organization in 1997. For years he recruited other members of the Mexican Armed Forces to form Los Zetas.
He served as the right-hand man of Cárdenas Guillén until 21 November 2002, when he was gunned down and killed by the Mexican Army Special Forces in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
Biography
Career and military defection
Guzmán Decena was born in a poor village in
Now one of the brightest, highly trained, and bloodiest members in the GAFE, Guzmán Decena was sent to the northern state of
Cárdenas Guillén then asked Guzmán Decena to help him recruit and set up the most ferocious hit squad possible for his cartel. Mexican federal agents later released the conversation between the two after an informant passed on the information of the new unit:[9]
Cárdenas Guillén – "I want the best men. The best."
Guzmán Decena – "What type of people do you need?"
Cárdenas Guillén – "The best armed men that there are."
Guzmán Decena – "These are only in the army."
Cárdenas Guillén – "I want them."
Following the orders, Guzmán Decena recruited dozens of soldiers from the Mexican military. Some media outlets report that the formation of Los Zetas was the result of a "mass defection" of a single army unit.[9] But military records show that this claim is false and inaccurate. Soldiers left their ranks and joined Los Zetas over some months and were from a number of different military units, but a number of GAFE soldiers made up a large part of the deserters. The members were given a codename with the letter Z, starting with Guzmán Decena with Z-1. Within some months, Guzmán Decena commanded a mercenary army of 38 defected soldiers enticed by salaries substantially higher than those paid by the Mexican government.[9] The GAFE soldiers that went to work with the Gulf cartel took with them a number of the Mexican Army's most sophisticated machine guns, assault rifles, pistols, bazookas, grenades, and telecommunications and surveillance equipment.[10] The role of Los Zetas was soon expanded by "collecting debts, securing cocaine supply and trafficking routes known as 'plazas,' and executing its foes – often with grotesque savagery."[11]
Gómez Herrera's execution
Once
Death
Guzmán Decena was shot dead by Mexican soldiers inside a restaurant on 22 November 2002 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas after being spotted by the Mexican military.[15][16] Another account written by Jesús Blancornelas indicates that Guzmán Decena went to a restaurant, had a few strong drinks, snorted a line of cocaine, and then decided to visit his mistress Ana Bertha González Lagunes, who lived a few blocks away. In order to not be interrupted, Guzmán Decena reportedly ordered his henchmen to block the street and direct traffic. Nonetheless, one of the neighbors called an anti-organized crime agency which called on the Mexican Army. When the soldiers arrived, Guzmán Decena was unable to defend himself and was shot to death.[17]
After his death, flowers in his honor were placed on the sidewalk outside the restaurant and at his gravesite.[18] According to the photos published by the local newspapers in Matamoros, a note accompanied the flowers and read the following:
"You will always be in our hearts. From your family, Los Zetas."[19]
Similarly, memorials were placed in the state of Oaxaca to venerate Guzmán Decena.[19]
In an apparent revenge for Guzmán Decena's assassination, four members of the
The death of Guzmán Decena marked the first significant success of the Mexican government against Los Zetas, but unconfirmed reports from within the organization claim that Guzmán Decena was killed by "his own men" on orders by Cárdenas Guillén, who feared Guzmán Decena's hegemony.[21]
See also
- Mexican Drug War
References
- Ioan Grillo (23 May 2012). "Special Report: Mexico's Zetas rewrite drug war in blood". Reuters. Archivedfrom the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b Tobar, Hector (20 May 2007). "A cartel army's war within". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Grayson 2012, p. 5.
- ^ Grillo 2012, p. 95.
- ^ a b "El Lazca desafía al poder que le dio vida: el Ejército". Proceso (in Spanish). 16 May 2010. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b Grillo 2012, p. 96.
- ^ a b c d e Grillo 2012, p. 97.
- ^ De Amicis, Albert (27 November 2010). "Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs)" (PDF). University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: 26. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d Grillo 2012, p. 98.
- ^ Serrano 2012, p. 63.
- ^ a b Grayson, George W. (May 2008). "Los Zetas: the Ruthless Army Spawned by a Mexican Drug Cartel". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Archived from the original on 12 August 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b Grayson 2012, p. 4.
- ^ a b Grayson 2012, p. 1.
- ^ a b Logan, Samuel (16 February 2012). "A Profile of Los Zetas: Mexico's Second Most Powerful Drug Cartel". Combating Terrorism Center. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Negrete Lares, Angeles (19 October 2003). "Violence erupting as cartels wage turf war: Violence in Matamoros". The Brownsville Herald. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Osorno, Diego (12 May 2007). "Los Zetas – Historias de Nadie". Milenio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ Jesús Blancornelas (3 December 2002). "Arturo y Osiel". Zeta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Jordan, Mary (21 July 2004). "Betrayal on the Mexican Border". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b Grayson 2012, p. 85.
- ^ Hernández, Jesús (17 March 2003). "Osiel Cárdenas, de mesero y jefe policiaco a uno de los capos más sanguinarios y poderosos del narco". La Crónica de Hoy (in Spanish). Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- ^ Grayson 2012, p. 11.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1408824337.
- Grayson, George W. (2012). The Executioner's Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers, Criminal Entrepreneurs, and the Shadow State They Created (1st ed.). ISBN 9781412846172.
- Serrano, Mónica (2012). Mexican Security Failure. ISBN 978-0415893275.