Los Zetas Deny Split

Mexico Security Memo: Los Zetas Deny Split

Deny Split

Unidentified people placed narcomantas Aug. 4-5 in Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Coahuila states denying a split within Los Zetas. Since June 1, unidentified people, believed to be part of a network, have disseminated narcomantas in several states alleging Los Zetas top two leaders -- Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano Lazcano and Miguel "Z-40" Trevino Morales -- are betraying their subordinates. The banners' widespread dissemination indicates an interregional information operations campaign regarding the coherence of Los Zetas, with its members as the intended audience.

Regardless of the veracity of the allegations against the top two Zetas leaders, this campaign's intent is to subvert their power base by undermining their subordinates' loyalty. The Aug. 4-5 banners are thus a response to the June 1 banners and to media reports regarding a Los Zetas split. The message denying Los Zetas are divided appears to come from individuals with the ability to act across multiple Mexican states. This suggests that the information operations struggle is occurring at a level within the organization that oversees multiple regions, as opposed to a localized cell within Los Zetas or a competing organization. While authorship of a narcomanta can rarely be verified, the authors of the mentioned messages likely belong to affiliates of Los Zetas, Sinaloa or respective allies of either group.

Given the cellular nature of Los Zetas and their widespread operations, not all Zetas members communicate with the organization's top leadership or even those close to the top leadership. This means posting narcomantas in multiple regions addressing an organizational split could encourage dissent within Los Zetas. Even so, no obvious signs of such dissent have appeared thus far. 

La Barredora's Arrests

Police arrested Gino Huerta Moreno, the suspected head of La Barredora criminal organization, and three suspected members of the same group during a July 31 operation in the San Sebastian neighborhood of Los Mochis, Sinaloa state. According to Mexican authorities, Huerta Moreno had replaced Jesus Ricardo Tapia Lopez as the principal leader of La Barredora. While the arrest of Huerta Moreno occurred in Los Mochis, La Barredora mostly has operated in Guerrero state, primarily in Acapulco, as an affiliate of the Sinaloa Federation. The recent arrests will likely continue the decrease of La Barredora activity in Guerrero state as larger criminal organizations, notably the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion and the Knights Templar, engage in a turf war in the same region.

During 2011, the competing groups La Barredora and Cartel Independiente de Acapulco controlled intergang violence in Acapulco. Toward the end of 2011, it appeared that La Barredora, with support from the Sinaloa Federation, had made significant steps in the fight against Cartel Independiente de Acapulco. Reports of activity attributed to La Barredora, however, substantially decreased in 2012 as the much larger Knights Templar and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion began assaulting each other throughout Guerrero state.

The two bigger groups are fighting each other for control of Acapulco's lucrative port and the mountainous regions of Guerrero, where illicit drug production is concentrated. Given La Barredora's relatively smaller size to those two groups, it is unlikely to regain the influence it once held in Acapulco and elsewhere in Guerrero. The recent arrests of La Barredora's leadership will likely contribute to the declining influence of the organization.

Fuente: http://www.stratfor.com/