2012 Nuevo Laredo massacres

[5] Nuevo Laredo is a lucrative drug corridor because of the large volume of trucks that pass through the area, and the multiple (exploitable) ports of entry.

[9] In addition, the government agency stated that 198 municipal police officers were to be investigated for possible connections with the Gulf Cartel; Manuel Muñoz, the attorney general who was being chased, was detained by the Mexican authorities.

[11] Nonetheless, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug boss of the Sinaloa cartel who is best known as El Chapo, "broke the rules" and penetrated into Tamaulipas.

But Juan José Esparragoza Moreno and El Chapo Guzmán were persuasive in moving on into Nuevo Laredo and the rest of Tamaulipas.

Nevertheless, El Chacho turned against the Osiel and the Gulf organization by deciding to work for the Sinaloa cartel and killing a Zeta member.

[12] In May 2002, El Chacho was kidnapped in the city of Monterrey by members of Los Zetas, and eventually found dead in Tamaulipas, bearing signs of torture.

[12] Dismembered remains of 14 men were found in several plastic bags inside a Chrysler Voyager in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on 17 April 2012.

[15] Mexican officials stated that they found a "messaged signed by a criminal group," but they did not release the content of the note,[16] nor if those killed were members of Los Zetas or of the Gulf Cartel.

[19] Following the attacks, the Sinaloa cartel's kingpin, Joaquín Guzmán Loera—better known as El Chapo Guzmán—sent a message to Los Zetas that they will fight for the control of the Nuevo Laredo plaza.

[26] The "40" in the message is a reference to Miguel Treviño Morales, a top leader of Los Zetas based in Nuevo Laredo, and longtime adversary of El Chapo Guzmán.

[27] In addition, the banner suggests that the alliance between Los Zetas and the Beltrán Leyva Cartel remains intact as of 2012 despite its losses it lived in 2008.

[28] Patrick Corcoran of InSight Crime believes that the turf war in Nuevo Laredo will bring a huge wave of violence, but also mentioned that the circumstances have changed since the split of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas in early 2010.

In addition, the Mexican authorities stated that those killed had "no relationship with the criminal group Los Zetas," and that they were in fact innocent civilians.

[31] 23 bodies—14 of them decapitated and 9 of them hanged from a bridge—were discovered in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rival drug gangs on the U.S.

[33] In addition, the 9 people who were hanged on the bridge were reportedly members of the Gulf Cartel who were killed by Los Zetas for "heating up" their turf.

[47][48] A Chevrolet pickup truck exploded at around 5:30 a.m. inside the parking lot of Hotel Santa Cecilia in southern Nuevo Laredo, injuring 2 civilians and 8 police officers.

[55] The authorities in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas believe that Los Zetas, one of Mexico's most powerful criminal groups, carried out the attack.

"[48] A third car bomb was abandoned on 29 June 2012 in front of the municipal palace at around 11:00 a.m., and exploded just below the office of Benjamín Galván Gómez, the mayor of Nuevo Laredo.

[56] Explosives were planted inside a gray Ford Ranger pickup truck, damaging more than ten vehicles that were parked near the car bomb and destroying dozens of windows in its surroundings.

[59] Laredo police said they received calls from several residents reporting an explosion, and dispatched officiers to the international bridges in the Texan city.

[61] The Mexican authorities believe this car bomb attack was a form of "expression" by the criminal syndicates who operate in Nuevo Laredo and want to make their presence known.

[66] On 26 September 2011, María Elizabeth Macías Castro, an editor of la Primera Hora newspaper, was decapitated; a note was left behind by Los Zetas, claiming responsibility for the killing.

[71] The man killed reportedly used the username "Rascatripa" in the site known as Nuevo Laredo en Vivo, where civilians post on the activities of Los Zetas.

[74] Even the "hacker group" known as Anonymous stepped in and gave recommendations to the community in Nuevo Laredo to "be careful" when denouncing Los Zetas.

[81] They may in fact be the first newspaper to publicly step down and stop covering all crime incidents involving stories of mafia groups fighting for control.

[80] The day that the editorial stepped down, 49 decapitated bodies were found along a highway near Monterrey, Mexico's third largest city, and just 120 miles south of Nuevo Laredo.

The company's editorial and administrative board has been forced to make this regrettable decision by circumstances we are all familiar with, and by the lack of adequate conditions for freely exercising professional journalism ... We will only address the (violent crime) issue through the opinions of professional analysts who study the phenomenon in an intelligent and responsible way ... [We will not] serve the petty interests of any de-facto power or criminal group.

[88] Inside the casino were several containers holding large amounts of gasoline, which helped the authorities conclude that the arson was intentional.

[93] Other grenade explosions were heard across the border in Laredo, Texas,[94] while the residents turned to #LaredoFollow hashtag on Twitter to report on the violence.

[95] Unconfirmed reports from KGNS-TV state that several places in Nuevo Laredo, including educational institutions, are under bomb threats.