The Executioner's Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers, Criminal Entrepreneurs, and the Shadow State They Created

by George W. Grayson, Clyde N. Wilson (Editor)

Overview

Los Zetas represent a new generation of ruthless, sadistic pragmatists in Mexico and Central America who are impelling a tectonic shift among drug trafficking organizations in the Americas. Mexico's marines have taken down the cartel's top leaders; nevertheless, these capos and their desperados have forever altered how criminal business is conducted in the Western Hemisphere. This narrative brings an unprecedented level of detail in describing how Los Zetas became Mexico's most diabolical criminal organization before suffering severe losses.

In their heyday, Los Zetas controlled networks of American police, politicians, judges, and businessmen. The Mexican government is losing its "war on drugs," despite the military, technical, and intelligence resources provided by its northern neighbor. Subcontracted street gangs operate in hundreds of US cities, purchasing weapons, delivering product, executing targeted foes, and bribing the US Border Patrol. Despite crippling losses Los Zetas still dominate Nuevo Laredo, the major portal for legal and illegal bilateral commerce. They also work hand-in-glove with the underworld in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, as well as with gangs like the Maras Salvatruchas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412854849
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/2015
Pages:	307
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

George W. Grayson, Clyde N.Wilson

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction to the Paperback Edition
Introduction

1. Origins and Establishment of Los Zetas
2. Leadership, Organization, and Training
3. Resources
4. A "Shadow Government": Dual Sovereignty
5. Esprit de Corps
6. Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana
7. "Zetanization" of Mexico
8. Psychological Operations
9. Zetas in Central America
10. Zetas in the United States
11. War in the North
12. Conclusions

Appendix 1 Original Zetas, Their Specialities,
and Status
Appendix 2 Suspected Zeta Recruits
Glossary of Key Terms
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Embroiled in multiple turf wars around the country as well as a battle with the nation’s armed forces, Mexico’s dozen-odd drug cartels all seek to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies, but none have cultivated a name for being cruel, ruthless and cold-blooded warriors quite so assiduously as the Zetas…. [This book] provide[s] us with the first hardnosed dissection of one of the most spine-chilling criminal organizations that has ever existed…. [E]ssential reading.” —Jo Tuckman, International Affairs “The Executioner’s Men, by George W. Grayson and Samuel Logan is an in depth study of the origin and evolution of Los Zetas—Latin America’s most deadly and diverse transnational criminal organization—and how they have shaped the environment around them. The book is not only a historical reference for nearly everything pertaining to Los Zetas, but is an unfinished story that leaves the reader living with the resilient Los Zetas of the present day, and notably just prior to Mexico’s presidential election in 2012. Already, this book has caught people’s attention in Mexico. . . . An accomplished work that should appeal to academia, law enforcement, strategists and policy-makers alike on both sides of the border. . . . Highly worthwhile reading . . . [provides] keen insight into the modern state of transnational criminal operations as influenced by Los Zetas.” —Lisa J. Campbell, Trends in Organized Crime “[T]his is the first authoritative book ever written solely about Los Zetas… The authors cover how Los Zetas are organized, financed, armed, and trained, and these sections contain information that is a researcher’s dream… Bottom line, if you do any work or research related to Mexico’s drug war, this needs to be in your book collection.” —Sylvia Longmire, http://borderviolenceanalysis.typepad.com “George Grayson and Samuel Logan provide the most detailed analysis to date of the Zetas, Mexico’s most brutal criminal group. The Executioner’s Men captures the sophisticated nature of the Zetas’ organizational structures and operations as well as the depraved flavor of the Zetas’ lives.” —Vanda Felbab-Brown, fellow at the Brookings Institution; author, Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs “[A]n astonishing tale with detail that Mickey Spillane would have envied. Vividly written, meticulously documented with footnotes that can serve as tools for other academics and journalists, this is a crime story that must be read and understood on both sides of the bloody border.” —Jerry Kammer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist “Carefully researched and vividly written, The Executioner’s Men provides the most detailed analysis currently available of the ‘Zetas,’ Mexico’s most violent and aggressive criminal organization. The book will be essential to scholars, policy-makers, and the public in their efforts to grasp the dimensions of the challenges posed by a new breed of organized crime to Mexico and the United States.” —John Bailey, professor of government and foreign service, Georgetown University

From the Publisher