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In 2010, in Huarez, Mexico, Christina
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Roman, her husband, and their children
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were fast asleep in the home. At 4:00
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a.m., Christina began hearing loud
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banging on her front door. Before she
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could react, three armed gunmen crashed
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through it. The intruders pointed their
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guns at Christina and her children,
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threatening to execute everyone before
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kidnapping her husband and fleeing.
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Determined, Christina and her family did
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everything that they could. They
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gathered the ransom money and delivered
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it to her spouse's captives. Days later,
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her husband's body was callously tossed
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into the street for all to see. What
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kind of organization does that? Oh, I'll
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tell you what kind. That's a cartel.
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Christina's story is not a rare one.
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Across Mexico, cartels have long been
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defined by extreme violence, brutal
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extortion, relentless struggle for
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survival, and the pervasive presence of
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death and hopelessness. No criminal
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organization illustrates that grim
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reality better than the one that created
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the modern blueprint for it all. You
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might have heard of them, Losatus. All
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right, so who are losers? Well, today
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that's actually kind of a hard thing to
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answer. They're a Mexican cartel, but
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they're sort of not anymore at the same
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time. This confusion is going to be
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cleared up later, but for now, just
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think of them like any other Mexican
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cartel. Their control over territories
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waxed and waned over the years. They are
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originally thought to be based in Novo
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Larido in the region of Tamalipas, the
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Mexican state that borders both the Gulf
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of Mexico or the Gulf of America if you
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prefer at the very southern tip of
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Texas. Over time, however, their
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influence stretched across Mexico all
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the way down to the Gulf Coast of places
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like Tabasco and Verarac Cruz. and at
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one point even held large Mexican cities
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such as Mterrey and Cancun. Their reach
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extended beyond Mexico as well thanks to
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their international operations. To say
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they were a big cartel would be an
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understatement bordering on an era. Los
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Zetas were enormous and they were
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everywhere. And they weren't just
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wealthy or influential or corrupt or
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violent and they were definitely all of
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those things. But they also managed to
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rise to power at breakneck speed,
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unveiling a new kind of cartel strategy
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that would forever change the way things
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were done by those who followed. So
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yeah, kind of a big deal. Now, to
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understand how Losers climbed to the
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very top of the Mexican Grimmel
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underworld, we need to delve into the
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history and trace their origins of
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ascent. This is a tale decades in the
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making. A story that shows how a few
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ambitious men completely transform the
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world as we know it, and it illustrates
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what happens when the best of the best
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become the very worst of the worst. All
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right, let me tell you a story. The
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history of Losatus begins not with the
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organization's own past, but with the
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history of another separate but related
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criminal organization, the Gulf Cartel.
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The Gulf Hotel Cartel was originally
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formed in the 1930s and served as a
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mainstay during the rise of Mexico's
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organized crime networks throughout the
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20th century. By the 1990s, it was
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operating, as one might expect, fighting
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for territory, enforcing for corrupt
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politicians, trafficking drugs to the
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border, and even engaging in internal
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conflicts. After the arrest of Mr.
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Garcia Abrago, the long-running leader
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of the cartel in 1996. A power struggle
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ensued to fill the void that he left
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behind. The man who eventually prevailed
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would become the origin point for what
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would later be known as Losatus. His
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name was Oiel Cadenus Gillin. And by
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1999, he had fully consolidated his
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power within the Gulf cartel. During
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this time, and due to the growth of
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rival cartels, he began recruiting from
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a very specific and deadly organization
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to protect his main men, the Mexican
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armed forces. Bossiel didn't just want
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your average run-of-the-mill grunts to
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be his foot soldiers. He only wanted the
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best. He wanted the Mexican Special
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Forces. Now, back in 1997, 31 members of
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the Mexican Army's elite airborne
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special forces group defected from the
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military and began working for the Gulf
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Cartel as guns for hire, perhaps because
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the benefits were better. This armed
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wing of the cartel staged
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assassinations, acted as bodyguards, and
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ran drugs, all in the cartel's name,
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transforming the Gulf Cartel into a
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deadly and growing force. Some were
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allegedly trained by fellow US special
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forces while serving in the Mexican
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military. So this elite fighting force
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trained by the world's premier military
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is now out on the streets of Mexico
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wreaking havoc. The training they once
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used for counterinsurgency and
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counternarcotics operations was
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repurposed against the very nation they
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had served. And because they were
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already familiar with all the tactics,
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it made them especially dangerous. They
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were organized, efficient, and brutal.
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Many members of this armed wing refused
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to adopt specific gang names like those
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traditionally used by cartel members.
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Instead, they chose numerical call
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signs. They were known as zed 1, zed 2,
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and so on. A group colloially known as
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the zeds or maybe z's. In Spanish, this
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translates to the name you all know, the
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loss. Under the leadership of the G
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cartel, they expanded quickly. However,
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by 2002, fractures began to appear
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between the Golf Cartel and the Losatus
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Paramilitary Wing. The armed group had
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grown too large and powerful to remain
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merely an extension of the cartel. In
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2002, the original leader of the armed
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group, Lieutenant Arturo Guzman Sean,
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alias Z1, was shot and killed by the
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Mexican military while in bed with his
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mistress near a restaurant in Tamalipas
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after being recognized during a routine
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patrol. The Mexican army's comrades had
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taken revenge, what they saw as Zed1's
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betrayal. Then in 2003, the Zetas
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finally got their opportunity to
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separate and go it alone. Osia Gillan,
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the leader of the Gulf Cartel, was
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arrested and extradited to the United
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States. Both organizations had recently
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lost their leaders. However, while the
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Gulf Cartel was still reeling, the Zetas
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had grown increasingly organized. Amid
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the chaos engulfing the Gulf cartel, the
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Zetas seized the perfect moment to
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strike out on their own. Led by
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Herabberto Lazano, Alias Z3, they
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embarked on establishing their own
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criminal enterprise with a modest force
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of roughly 300 members. And they weren't
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just good at it, they were the best.
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Resourceful, violent, and more astute
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than many other criminal organizations,
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they possessed a keen understanding of
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military training and tactics. Their
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influence was rapidly expanding both in
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terms of territory and numbers. This was
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no ordinary cartel. It was essentially a
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company of special forces soldiers who
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also happened to be criminals. By around
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2012, less than a decade after striking
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out on their own, they had established a
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presence in hundreds of municipalities
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across Mexico. Although their
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strongholds were on the Gulf Coast, they
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had operations spanning the entire
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country in 17 states. They'd even begun
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to set up in foreign countries, moving
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into Guatemala and seizing strategic
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drug trafficking territories there to
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enhance their smuggling capabilities.
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Their numbers quickly ballooned to north
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of 10,000 members, marking a meteoric
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rise to prominence that certainly got
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them noticed. In 2009, the United States
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government was quick to brand them the
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most dangerous Mexican organized crime
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group. The previous pacts that Losat has
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had with the Gulf cartel broke down
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around 2010, rapidly descending into
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hyperviolence in key cities where both
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cartels operated, such as Mterrey.
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Throughout this period of rapid ascent,
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Loss began earning a reputation forged
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from their special forces roots. You
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see, Losatas weren't just violent, they
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were calculated, and that could only
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mean disaster for anyone in their way.
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Now, you need to understand that the
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hypermilitarized violence we see across
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Mexican organized crime networks today
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didn't start that way. Yeah, they were
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violent. brutish and sometimes even
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beastlike. But the Zetas changed the
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approach for everyone going forward.
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That military background and training
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seeped into the organization like a
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festering wound. It led to a strict
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efficient structure with tactical
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discipline and a quiet psychopathic
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ruthlessness you would normally
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associate only with a serial killer. If
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the other cartels were like rabid dogs
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driven solely by instinct, violence, and
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basic strategy, the Zetas were like a
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pack of wolves. They possessed a
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sinister competence that consistently
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produced predictable results, rapidly
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expanding their territory in a short
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time. This has since escalated into an
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arms race, a dynamic that in recent
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years other Mexican cartels have begun
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to adopt. While the Zetas might not have
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started that trend, they were certainly
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the first to perfect the formula. The
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Zetas brought a paramilitary-like
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efficiency and strategy to everything
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they did. They used the best available
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weapons, often state-of-the-art
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equipment stolen from military surplus
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or trafficked over the American border.
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Automatic weapons became standard issue
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for the Zetas at a time when many cartel
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members were equipped with nothing more
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than old pistols. It wasn't just about
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automatic weapons, though. Explosives
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allowed them to go toe-to-toe with even
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the Mexican military whenever necessary,
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while other cartels barely stood a
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chance. This made them both deadlier and
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more destructive, and it was a key part
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of that arms race I mentioned earlier.
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Nowadays, many cartels are equipped in a
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similar fashion and even employ newer
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technologies such as drones that have
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become widespread since then. Weapons
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alone would not have been enough. To
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achieve the level of dominance they did,
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Losatas needed an additional edge,
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communication. By this point, Losatas
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had evolved into an organization that
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was part cartel, part full-on
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paramilitary group. They applied
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military-like discipline when planning
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operations, carried out intelligence
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gathering missions and reconnaissance,
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and established a network of captured
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radio towers to ensure seamless
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communication. This allowed them to plan
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and strike their targets with relentless
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effectiveness. The emergence of Losers
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posed a significant challenge for the
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Mexican state. The country's best and
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brightest forces were already struggling
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against the cartel threat and how they
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faced near peers operating on the wrong
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side of the law. At one point, the US
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Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA
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described Losers as perhaps the most
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technologically advanced, sophisticated,
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and violent enforcement group in the
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country. And that violence was highly
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important for maintaining control
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through fear and keeping the money
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flowing. When they took territory, they
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actively held it to exploit the economic
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benefits. while other cartels less
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organized couldn't do so as effectively.
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However, instilling fear also meant
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casting a wide net over Mexican
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communities, putting even ordinary
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citizens in the firing line if they
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communicated with the authorities.
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Targeting civilians broke every rule of
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organized crime in Mexico. It happened,
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but it was frowned upon. It was
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considered bad form, even among cartels
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known for routinely beheading people on
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the internet. Losers were among the
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first to openly flout such unwritten
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rules, and they took no prisoners. In
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August of 2010, for example, the Zetas
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killed 72 migrants and dumped their
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bodies in a mass grave in Tamalipus. In
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a remote location, Mexican Marines
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discovered a slaughter house where
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bodies lay scattered on the floors,
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killed indiscriminately and brutally.
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Authorities believe these victims were
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on route to the US border, having
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traveled from as far as Ecuador and
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Brazil. This indicates they had made it
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most of the way along the perilous route
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from South America, crossing the
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infamously dangerous Darian Gap and
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navigating the hyperviolent societies of
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Central America, only to be killed so
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near their destination by the Zetas. To
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them, a person's struggle simply didn't
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matter. The migrants posed no threat. It
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just murder for the sake of murder. And
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this is far from the only story. In
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September of 2008, suspected members of
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the Zetas tossed grenades into a crowd
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celebrating Mexico's Independence Day in
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the western city of Merilia. The attack
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killed eight people and left more than
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100 wounded in a 2011 arsson attack on
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the Montterrey Casino believed to be
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instigated by the Zetas. 52 people were
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killed. Later that same year, they
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carried out another massacre in San
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Fernando, killing 193 people over the
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course of several days at a countryside
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ranch. Survivors were forced to join the
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cartel while the dead were dumped in
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clandestine graves to rot. This
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reputation earned them very few friends.
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They clashed with other organizations
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such as the infamous lower cartel, the
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Gulf Cartel, the Haliscoco New
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Generation Cartel, and many others.
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Their special forces training and
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military regimen left them unafraid of
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anyone. Even when their military
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training was diluted over time, their
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brutality absolutely wasn't. Those who
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were unfortunate enough not to be
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immediately killed by the Zetas were
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often brutally tortured to death with
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their mutilated bodies, then strung up
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in public places to send a message. For
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assassinations, they had a network of
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hitmen ready to send their rivals six
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feet under at a moment's notice. If the
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Zetas wanted you gone, they could choose
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to do so quietly and privately or
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violently and publicly, depending on
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which options served their strategic
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interest best. They could erase all
00:11:19
evidence of your existence. In recent
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years, families in northern Veraracruz
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have discovered so-called kitchens.
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Volunteers and forensic examiners
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dressed in white protective suits and
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face masks use saves to search through
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piles of ash for fragments of human
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bones, teeth, and nails. Some victims
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were fed to crocodiles that dutifully
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destroyed every last shred of evidence
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while others were dissolved in acid. By
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this time, Miguel Annaniel Trevino
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Morales or Z40 had become the leader of
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the Zetas, having taken over from the
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previous kingpin sometime around 2012.
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During his tenure, Morales was the
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epicenter of suffering for rivals,
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police, and civilians alike. It's
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claimed that he personally killed around
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2,000 people in addition to ordering
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thousands of other murders throughout
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Mexico, making him one of the deadliest
00:12:01
individuals in history. His preferred
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method of killing was to stuff victims
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into oil barrels and set them ablaze. At
00:12:06
that time, there was nobody worse than
00:12:08
the Zetas among the cartels. But it also
00:12:11
showed how the Zetas tended to operate
00:12:13
differently from the rest of the cartels
00:12:15
in the country at the time. For example,
00:12:16
while many cartels across Mexico
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prioritized drug trafficking as their
00:12:20
main revenue source, Losatus maintained
00:12:22
an incredibly diverse portfolio. In
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addition to running drugs, a highly
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profitable venture, they were involved
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in protection rackets, kidnapping and
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ransom schemes, piracy, black market oil
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sales, and contract killings, among
00:12:32
other illicit activities. At the height
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of their power, they had a vast network
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of international drug trafficking
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contacts that reached through Central
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America to Colombia and Venezuela,
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extended into the United States and
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across the Atlantic into Europe and West
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Africa. They also differed from other
00:12:47
cartels in how deeply they embedded
00:12:49
themselves into a corrupt society. The
00:12:50
Zetas donated millions to the campaigns
00:12:52
of certain politicians, hoping to secure
00:12:54
political protection in exchange. Anyone
00:12:56
who allowed them to dig their claws in
00:12:58
became exceptionally powerful in the
00:13:00
local areas where these politicians held
00:13:02
sway, often even more so than the
00:13:04
police. While the cartels have
00:13:05
historically engaged in similar
00:13:07
practices, very few operated on as
00:13:09
widespread a scale as the Zetas did in
00:13:11
this regard. During a 2010 migrant
00:13:13
massacre, a subsequent investigation
00:13:15
revealed that some Mexican policemen had
00:13:17
assisted the Zetas in committing the
00:13:18
slaughter. Some even acting as lookouts
00:13:20
or arresting migrants only to turn them
00:13:22
over to the Zetas for death. Yes, the
00:13:25
thin blue line is thin for a reason.
00:13:27
Whether it was greed or fear of
00:13:28
reprisal, when losers were that
00:13:30
organized, that brutal, and so deeply
00:13:32
embedded in Mexican society, it's
00:13:34
perhaps no wonder that some police
00:13:36
either helped or looked the other way.
00:13:38
silver or lead. The more things change,
00:13:42
the more they stay the same. Unafraid of
00:13:44
anyone, Losatas have also brazenly
00:13:46
targeted US law enforcement. For
00:13:47
example, Jaime Zapata, an ICE agent, was
00:13:50
shot and killed in February 2011, an
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event that instantly propelled the Zetas
00:13:54
to the very top of the United States
00:13:56
cartel hit list. Not many cartels dare
00:13:58
target US personnel given the risks
00:13:59
involved, but the Zetas were afraid
00:14:02
nobody. And perhaps that was a problem.
00:14:04
You'll notice, however, that I've been
00:14:06
discussing Losator's relative peak as an
00:14:08
organization in the past tense, and
00:14:11
that's because 2012 marked the height of
00:14:12
their power. Nonetheless, the Zatas were
00:14:14
on top of the world for a time, and they
00:14:16
were brooming with pride. But what comes
00:14:18
after pride? The crackdown on the
00:14:20
cartels began in 2006 with then Mexican
00:14:22
President Felipe Cowderon's war on drugs
00:14:24
policy. This initiative saw the Mexican
00:14:26
military along with forces from several
00:14:28
other nations targeting cartel
00:14:29
leadership. Many significant arrests
00:14:31
were made, yet none involved top figures
00:14:33
within the Zetas. In fact, the Zetas
00:14:34
continued to expand at that time. The
00:14:36
Mexican government may have
00:14:38
inadvertently weakened only their
00:14:39
competitors. Cowderon's term ended in
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2012, ironically, at the peak of the
00:14:43
Zeta's power. Ultimately, he simply
00:14:45
couldn't get a hold of them, but it
00:14:46
couldn't last forever. As the years
00:14:47
passed and the Mexican government
00:14:49
declared the Zetas its top priority, the
00:14:51
organization retaliated by bolstering
00:14:53
its notoriety through a series of
00:14:54
provocations that grew increasingly
00:14:56
reckless. The mounting pressure on its
00:14:58
leadership eventually led to a split.
00:15:00
The ultimate breaking point emerged from
00:15:01
the deteriorating relationship between
00:15:03
the Trevvinho brothers, Miguel or Z40,
00:15:06
who we mentioned earlier, and Alejandro
00:15:08
or Z42. Over time, the brothers divided
00:15:10
into rival factions that continued using
00:15:12
the name Losatus, although they
00:15:14
effectively operated separately. These
00:15:16
splinter groups would come to be known
00:15:18
as the Northeast Cartel and the old
00:15:20
school Zetus. As fragmentation
00:15:22
accelerated throughout the mid 2010s,
00:15:24
the Zetas were hit by a series of
00:15:26
high-profile blows to their leadership.
00:15:27
One of the most significant losses was
00:15:29
that of Herabas Carano Z3, the previous
00:15:32
leader of the cartel. He was killed in
00:15:34
October 2012 by Mexican Marines next to
00:15:36
a van containing grenades, a grenade
00:15:38
launcher, RPGs, and two rifles. Both of
00:15:41
the Treveniah brothers eventually ended
00:15:43
up getting arrested by the Mexican
00:15:44
military. Miguel was thrown in jail in
00:15:46
the summer of 2013, while Alejandro was
00:15:49
cuffed in early 2015. Another
00:15:50
high-profile arrest took place in 2018
00:15:52
when the Mexican government ensured that
00:15:54
Jose Maria Gazar Valencia, aka Z43,
00:15:58
would also face his day in court. He was
00:16:00
responsible for many of the drug
00:16:01
shipments the gang pushed through
00:16:03
Central America and the breakdown of his
00:16:05
operation led to further fracturing as
00:16:06
funds in some areas began to dry up.
00:16:08
High-profile leaders were not bouncing
00:16:10
back either, with most getting
00:16:12
extradited to the United States, where
00:16:14
they will almost certainly remain
00:16:16
incarcerated indefinitely. Now, by this
00:16:18
point, it had been over 20 years since
00:16:20
the original Sakario split from the
00:16:22
special forces and joined the Gulf
00:16:24
Cartel, and they just weren't as perfect
00:16:25
as they used to be. As people joined and
00:16:27
left or were killed or arrested, the
00:16:29
cartel gradually lost its soldier
00:16:31
expertise. They increasingly became
00:16:32
sloppy, their training deteriorate, and
00:16:34
communication broke down over time as
00:16:36
they struggled to hold on to whatever
00:16:37
territory they could. Meanwhile, other
00:16:39
organizations were finally catching up
00:16:41
in the great Mexican cartel arms race.
00:16:43
And the advantages that once made Losa
00:16:46
so feared were now being exploited by
00:16:48
cartels with more money, more people,
00:16:50
and better connections. Over time, they
00:16:52
simply became smaller, more localized,
00:16:55
no longer resembling the gargantuan
00:16:56
institution that had brought so much
00:16:58
bloodshed for so many years. So since
00:17:01
the fall and fracture of Losas, what is
00:17:04
the state of the organization today?
00:17:05
Well, at present, there's no real
00:17:07
centralized leadership within the cartel
00:17:09
whatsoever. At least that's what we
00:17:11
know. The Zetas have mostly atomized
00:17:13
into splinter groups scattered across
00:17:15
the former cartels territory. The two
00:17:17
biggest groups, as we mentioned, are the
00:17:18
Northeast Cartel and the Old School
00:17:20
Zetas. Sure, they're regionally
00:17:22
powerful, but they're not poised to
00:17:24
extend their influence throughout all of
00:17:26
Mexico anytime soon, not even close. At
00:17:29
the smaller level, they operate largely
00:17:31
as independent local factions, each with
00:17:33
its own operations, priorities, and
00:17:35
alliances while still functioning under
00:17:37
the Zeta's banner. It's not completely
00:17:39
out of the question that some mystic
00:17:41
leader will emerge to unify everyone
00:17:42
under the old loss name, but the longer
00:17:44
that takes to come around, the less
00:17:45
likely it becomes. Meanwhile, new
00:17:47
rivalries, alliances, and leaders
00:17:49
continuously surface from Mexico's
00:17:51
battleh hardened streets, each ready to
00:17:53
take their own shot at becoming the
00:17:54
kings and queens of the criminal
00:17:55
underworld. The same intensity of brutal
00:17:57
violence remains a constant brand
00:17:59
feature. However, it has become just an
00:18:01
old trick now employed by every
00:18:04
militarized criminal faction in Mexico,
00:18:06
no longer setting them apart. Drug
00:18:08
trafficking on a large scale is nearly
00:18:10
impossible for the Zatas, who are unable
00:18:11
to move significant quantities of drugs
00:18:13
due to their diminished influence in
00:18:14
Central and South America nowadays.
00:18:16
Instead, local factions operate within
00:18:18
very small segments of land that they
00:18:20
control, extorting whatever illicit
00:18:22
opportunities arise to generate income.
00:18:24
In a sense, it was beneficial for the
00:18:26
future of the organization to gain early
00:18:27
experience in operating without relying
00:18:29
entirely on drug profits. Now, however,
00:18:32
circumstances have forced them to depend
00:18:33
on it. This hasn't stopped law
00:18:35
enforcement from continuing to target
00:18:36
the organization as several high-ranking
00:18:38
members have been arrested and
00:18:40
extradited to the US over time.
00:18:42
Basically, what laws used to be doesn't
00:18:45
really exist anymore. It has effectively
00:18:47
ceased to be a unified organization with
00:18:49
all its members pulling in the same
00:18:50
direction. It's not even clear who is
00:18:52
calling the shots at the top. Someone
00:18:54
may be in charge, but if they exist,
00:18:56
they remain elusive to law enforcement,
00:18:58
at least at the time of recording this
00:19:00
video. One source of their enduring
00:19:02
influence is somewhat like a sports
00:19:05
franchise that survived through legacy
00:19:07
and dynasty. Remember how the leaders of
00:19:09
these cartels, and I'm sure many
00:19:11
higherprofile leaders, were getting
00:19:13
extradited to the US. As a result,
00:19:14
they've been able to cultivate influence
00:19:16
and stimulate growth among the US prison
00:19:18
population as well as within gangs. The
00:19:20
Zetas started as a military force, then
00:19:22
became a cartel, and now exist in the US
00:19:24
as a pseudo gang. You might consider
00:19:26
them similar to a more militant and
00:19:28
organized version of MS-13. Even behind
00:19:30
bars, they are reported to have some
00:19:32
influence in drug trafficking operations
00:19:34
in Texas and California. In a morbidly
00:19:36
ironic way, they're more like a gang now
00:19:39
than they ever were before. So, in many
00:19:41
ways, the Zetas may be gone, but the
00:19:43
problems they left behind still persist.
00:19:45
People facing destitution have turned to
00:19:47
crime as a means of survival. And the
00:19:49
militarization of the cartels continues
00:19:51
at a record pace. Even in their defanged
00:19:53
state, the Zetas still exert influence
00:19:55
of power that north of the border is
00:19:57
arguably growing through prison networks
00:19:59
and gang alliances. Uncle Sam's issues
00:20:00
with Los Zatas have shifted from
00:20:02
international challenges to domestic
00:20:04
ones. Moreover, for every cartel leader
00:20:06
killed or captured, new figures are
00:20:08
ready to take their place. The Mexican
00:20:09
authorities are similarly strained with
00:20:11
the military still heavily engaged in
00:20:13
the fight against the cartels. This
00:20:15
ongoing battle is further complicated by
00:20:17
pervasive corruption and the cartels
00:20:19
integration at the local level.
00:20:20
Meanwhile, innocent people continue to
00:20:23
lose their lives. The Zetas weren't the
00:20:25
first cartel. They won't be the last.
00:20:27
However, they attached a rocket ship to
00:20:29
cartel practices in a way that has
00:20:31
inflicted irreparable damage on
00:20:33
communities throughout the Americas.
00:20:35
They didn't merely devise a strategy.
00:20:38
They established a new cartel blueprint
00:20:40
fueled by blood, bullets, and cash.
00:20:44
Meanwhile, Mexico continues to suffer
00:20:46
from their innovations as the cycle
00:20:49
repeats yet again. Thank you for
00:20:52
watching.
