A to Z of crime - Mexico's Zetas expand operations

The Zetas is the first criminal organisation in the Americas to have been formed by former military personnel and defectors from a regular army. Mexico's General Attorney (Procuraduria General de la Republica: PGR) classified and filed the Zetas as an armed division of the Gulf Cartel in December 1996.

The Zetas represent a major threat to Mexico's national security. Organised crime was designated a national security threat in 1987, and the Zetas are now one of the major criminal groups operating in the country. As army defectors, the Zetas possess considerable military expertise, training and experience in combat, guerrilla and urban warfare.

The Zetas' formation represented the first time that a drug cartel possessed such a sophisticated and well-trained armed division. Since then they have been responsible for the cartel's security, logistics, assassination of its rivals and its ambitious expansion strategy to other territories that are under the control of rival drug syndicates.

Image: Mexican federal officers escort Jaime González Duran (alias El Hummer) after his arrest in Mexico City on 7 November 2008. He is alleged to be one of the Zetas' founders. (PA Photos) 153 of 3,851 words