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Abstract
This essay provides an overview of those incidents of torture and beheadings linked to the Mexican cartels and their mercenary and gang affiliates taking place both within Mexico and the United States. Specific forms of torture are discussed as well as the most likely victims and perpetrators. Beheadings, primarily taking place only in Mexico, are also analyzed with supporting database information provided. The occurrences of torture and beheadings tied to these cartels, both in Mexico and more recently across the border into the United States, beg the question of the context in which they are being conducted. Most cases of torture or beheading are regarded as primarily secular in nature – a terrorist tactic tied to economic or political gain. In an even more macabre twist, however, certain instances have been seen as intertwined with a group's belief system, performed in ritual fashion to fulfill religious or spiritual demands. This suggests that the emergent Mexican narcocultos that are evolving may further increase drug war violence to new levels of brutality heretofore unseen.
Notes
1. While Mexican law enforcement, military, and vigilante groups have also engaged in torture on behalf of their government and local communities against the drug cartels such incidents are not the focus of this essay.
2. CitationKPBS, ‘Border Battle: Bringing Home the Drug War, Glossary’.
3. CitationRoig-Franzia, ‘Mexican Drug Cartels Leave a Bloody Trail on YouTube’, A01.
4. CitationQuinones, ‘State of War’.
5. CitationGrillo, ‘Behind Mexico's Wave of Beheadings’.
6. CitationUS Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, ‘Biographies of DEA Agents and Employees Killed in Action: Enrique S. Camarena’ and CitationLake, ‘Who killed Kiki Camarena’.
7. CitationLake, ‘Who killed Kiki Camarena’.
8. CitationBooth, ‘Warrior in Drug Fight Soon Becomes a Victim’, A01.
9. CitationCnn.com, ‘Mexico drug fighter killed after less than a day on job’.
10. CitationMarosi, ‘Mexico Under Siege: Violence unabated in Tijuana’, and CitationQuinones, ‘State of War’.
11. CitationGomez, ‘Local ICE agent taking border experience to Washington’, and CitationFleming, Drug Wars: Silver or Lead.
12. CitationBarakat, ‘Lawyer Admits Client's Guilt in MS-13 Killing of Pregnant Teen’.
13. CitationKleinknecht, ‘“Strong gang component” revealed in Newark schoolyard slayings’.
14. CitationWebster, ‘Mexican Drug cartels terror reaches deep into the US’.
15. CitationKeteyian, ‘Drug Cartels Flex Muscle in Southwest’.
16. Sources used as background for this section are CitationGrillo, ‘Behind Mexico's Wave of Beheadings’, CitationSTRATFOR, ‘Beheadings in Mexico: The Foreign Element in Mexico's Drug Wars’, and CitationSTRATFOR, ‘Kaibiles: The New Lethal Force in the Mexican Drug Wars’.
17. CitationManwaring, ‘A Contemporary Challenge To State Sovereignty’.
18. The study was conducted by Joel K. Myhre, Principle Consultant for Nordic Geospatial Consultants based on open source data set provided by Lisa Campbell, July 2009: 2006 – Avg Latitude = 22.197844, Avg Dist in Miles to US Border = 425; 2007 – Avg. Latitude = 19.869287, Avg Dist in Miles to US Border = 491; 2008 – Avg. Latitude = 25.359474, Avg. Dist in Miles to US Border = 302; 2009 – Avg. Latitude = 25.414780, Avg. Dist in Miles to US Border = 274.
19. CitationManwaring, ‘A Contemporary Challenge To State Sovereignty’, 5.
20. It is not yet known who the Mata Zetas (aka Matando Zetas) are or who they work for. They first surfaced on YouTube with a reported beheading video. The video, which had several similarities to Islamic beheading videos in Iraq, portrayed four heavily armed men, dressed in black and with black hoods, interrogating two Los Zetas members, at least one of whom was later found to have been beheaded.
21. CitationCampbell, ‘The Use of Beheadings by Fundamentalist Islam’, 263–71. There were several mass beheading incidents in Iraq in the 2004–06 timeframe, including one with up to 30 heads found in a single spot.
22. CitationCanby, ‘Getting Away With Murder’.
23. CitationMarizco, ‘The Case of Felix Batista Resurfaces’.
24. CitationAssociation of Religious Data Archives web site, ‘Mexico 2008, subheading: Religious Demography’.
25. CitationMerrill and Miró, eds., ‘Religion’, Mexico: A Country Study. It is interesting to note that Mexico's modern Catholicism is practiced in some areas with a direct nod to ancient Mayan religion, including animal sacrifice as part of religious practice. See CitationSchlein, ‘Chiapas, Mexico Offers Ancient, Modern Religion Mix’.
26. CitationVazquez, ‘Reditus: A Chronicle of Aesthetic Christianity’.
27. CitationBurke, ‘The Public Land's Biggest Crop’.
28. CitationGuillermoprieto, ‘The Narcovirus’, 3–6.
29. CitationFreese, ‘The Death Cult of the Drug Lords’.
30. CitationDavies, ‘Santa Muerte: the Mexican Death Cult’.
31. CitationWatson, ‘Residents along U.S.-Mexican Border find strength in local folk saints’.
32. CitationBotsch, ‘Jesus Malverde's significance to Mexican drug traffickers’.
33. CitationGuillermoprieto, ‘The Narcovirus’, 3–6.
34. CitationCreechan and Garcia, ‘Without God or Law’, 12.
35. CitationHolman, ‘Jesus Malverde and Nino Fidencio’.
36. CitationBotsch, ‘Jesus Malverde's significance to Mexican drug traffickers’.
37. CitationButler, ‘Jesus Malverde: The Narco Saint’.
38. CitationDavis, ‘Jesus Malverde Legend Continues’.
39. CitationCreechan and Garcia, ‘Without God or Law’, 9–13.
40. CitationGuillermoprieto, ‘The Narcovirus’, 3–6.
41. CitationFreese, ‘The Death Cult of the Drug Lords’, 3. In the text we refer to Santa Muerte or the death saint but Freese has a comprehensive list of alternate or nicknames for the saint – a further sign, he says, of how attached to her that her followers are – including Santisima Muerte (Most Holy Death), Sagrada Muerte (Sacred Death), Querida Muerte (Beloved Death), Poderosa Senora (Powerful Lady), La Comadre (The Co-Mother), La Madrina (The Godmother), La Hermana (The Sister), Santa Marta (Saint Martha), Martita (Little Martha), La Santa Nina Blanca (The Holy White Girl), La Bonita (The Pretty Girl), La Flaca or Flaquita (The Skinny Girl), and Negrita (Little Black Girl).
42. CitationHolman, The Santisima Muerte: A Mexican Folk Saint.
43. CitationOrtega-Trillo, ‘The Cult of Santa Muerte in Tijuana’.
44. CitationDavies, ‘Santa Muerte: the Mexican Death Cult’.
45. CitationFreese, ‘The Death Cult of the Drug Lords’, 11.
46. CitationSwann, ‘The Dark Religion of the Santa Muerte’.
47. CitationKail, ‘Santisima Muerte: Patron saint of security threat groups’.
48. CitationReuters, ‘Mexico's “Saint Death” cult says it is drug war victim’.
49. CitationGrillo, ‘Behind Mexico's Wave of Beheadings’.
50. CitationSwann, ‘The Dark Religion of the Santa Muerte’.
51. CitationReuters, ‘Mexico's ‘Saint Death’ cult says it is drug war victim’.
52. CitationOrtega-Trillo, ‘The Cult of Santa Muerte in Tijuana’.
53. CitationDavies, ‘Santa Muerte: the Mexican Death Cult’, and CitationKail, ‘Santisima Muerte: Patron saint of security threat groups’.
54. CitationCarter, ‘Links between illegal immigrants, terrorism, drug trade worry US officials’.
55. CitationLavandera, ‘Police: U.S. teens were hit men for Mexican cartel’.
56. CitationCastillo, ‘Action 4 Investigates: La Santa Muerte’.
57. CitationRipley, ‘La Santisima Muerte: Inside the Death Cult’.
58. CitationWright and Ordones, ‘Man gets 24 years for running sex ring’.
59. CitationSwann, ‘The Dark Religion of the Santa Muerte’.
60. CitationLaycock, ‘Mexico's War on Saint Death’, and CitationCarroll, ‘We Pray for Hope and Courage’.
61. CitationKail, ‘Crime Scenes and Folk Saint: The Cult of Santa Muerte’.
62. CitationHolman, The Santisima Muerte: A Mexican Folk Saint, in endnote mention shrine to black Christ visited by assassins.
63. CitationFreese, ‘The Death Cult of the Drug Lords’, 13–14.
64. CitationSchultze, ‘Bad Mojo: Evil spirits walk in the criminal world’.
65. CitationBrayton, ‘El Taliban Invades America: Zetas at the Alpha Beta’.
66. CitationFeemster, ‘Spirituality: The DNA of Law Enforcement Practice’, 12–13.
67. CitationReynolds, ‘From the Focus on the Family to Familia Michoacan’.
68. CitationGrayson, ‘E-Notes: La Familia: Another Deadly Mexican Syndicate’.
69. CitationWilkinson, ‘Mexico drug traffickers corrupt politics’.
70. CitationTuckman, ‘Teetotal Mexican drugs cartel claims divine right to push narcotics’.
71. For more, see Ibid., CitationRodriguez, ‘Michoacan Drug Cartel Offers Bank Services’, and CitationReuters, ‘Cult-like gang gains power in Mexico drugs war’.
72. CitationGrillo, ‘Drug-Dealing for Jesus: Mexico's Evangelical Narcos’.
73. CitationSTRATFOR, ‘Ideology of Criminal Groups in Mexico’.
74. CitationTuckman, ‘Teetotal Mexican drugs cartel claims divine right to push narcotics’.
75. CitationReuters, ‘Cult-like gang gains power in Mexico drugs war’.
76. CitationGrayson, ‘E-Notes: La Familia: Another Deadly Mexican Syndicate’.
77. CitationWilkinson, ‘Mexico drug traffickers corrupt politics’.
78. CitationGrillo, ‘Drug-Dealing for Jesus: Mexico's Evangelical Narcos’.
79. Ibid.
80. CitationGomez, ‘The Use of Religion in the World of Organized Crime’.
81. CitationGrayson, ‘E-Notes: La Familia: Another Deadly Mexican Syndicate’.
82. CitationHawley, ‘Government, leader deaths reshape apocalyptic sect in Mexico’.
83. CitationEconomist Staff, ‘Mexico's drug Gangs: Taking on the unholy family’.