UPDATE: There seems to be confusion from readers about this story concerning two things. One, the link to a year old Houston Chronicle article and two the video by Glenn Beck at the bottom. This post is about the rumor of the Los Zetas seizing control of ranches in Texas. Some report they have, others refute that. I have provided a link to a story from May of 2009, which could have contributed to the confusion of the Zetas and ranches in Texas, and a Glenn Beck video that speaks to the history of the Zetas and the overall Mexican Drug war. I am not in anyway trying to use those links as a confirmation as to the validity of the original story. I am providing more links at the bottom as they become available.
Two separate reports have said that the infamous Los Zetas Drug Cartel have seized 2 US ranches in Texas, these reports appear to be inaccurate but not totally. The original reports said that Los Zetas, a deadly drug syndicate operating in Mexico had taken control of US owned ranches in Texas and that the ranch owners were unharmed. Had this happened in this way, we would be looking at an escalation of hostilities that we haven’t seen to date.
These reports have widely been disproven, to a certain extent. What has taken place however is this. The FBI is advising law enforcement across the country that a “Texas cell” of Los Zetas acquired a ranch in Texas that they are using as a base of operations.
The Houston Chronicle has in the past reported that this cell of Los Zetas uses a secluded ranch to train its members how to “neutralize” competitors in the drug trade. You’ll feel safe to know that Los Zetas is training its members within our borders about home invasion techniques, firearms, and how to run vehicles off the road to kidnap those who owe drug debts.
While reports that the Los Zetas Cartel has seized US ranches in Texas are exaggerated, it’s not totally false. The Mexican drug war continues to be a huge problem; just today authorities in Northern Mexico unearthed a mass grave which contained 51 bodies.
UPDATE: The original source of the story is now saying they have 100% confirmation that Los Zetas Cartel has seized US ranches. You can find this story in the first link at the top. Stay tuned for further updates.
Here is another source claiming that authorities in Laredo will not confirm or deny.
More from Fox News.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
“The Houston Chronicle is reporting that this cell … ”
It doesn’t affect the whole of this post, but keep in mind that the Chronicle article you reference is from May, 2009.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Untruth being spread…the truth may be yet to come, but this report is a falsehood.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Breitbart is that you?
July 24th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
That Chronicle story is from May 09, I’ve got a Las Vega Sun story from Today about gun-battles between cartel men and the Mexican Army in Nuevo Laredo last night. http://tinyurl.com/23arh9e
This ranch story makes complete sense. This Los Zetas formation, or whoever the are, most likely retreated across the border in an effort to disengage Mexican Army forces. Using boarders like this is a common tactic among non-state fighting units. I bet they even have a plan for this.
They would anticipate US authorities couldn’t react immediately to the incursion, and all they need is enough time to regroup and disperse back in to Mexico, or Laredo.
These guys will be gone come Sunday.
July 24th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Be careful with the information in this story until it is verified by credible sources (so far, it hasn’t). The video being used (of Glenn Beck) is from June 2007.
July 24th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
[...] separate report states that Los Zetas has not seized, but rather, has “acquired” a ranch at which it is training “its members to ‘neutralize’ competitors [...]
July 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
A good and explanatory angle on this viral micro-phenomenon, but I especially like Glenn Beck introducing a “former super secret special spy…guy…ahem.”
Nice, Glenn.
July 25th, 2010 at 1:24 am
[...] to Right Wing Pundits, a conservative site, this malicious rumor that the whack jobs are spreading was cobbled together [...]
July 25th, 2010 at 1:59 am
Is this from Breitbart?
July 25th, 2010 at 3:45 am
C’mon Shannon they could just be training poor migrants how to pick tomatoes better. Didn’t our supreme lord and commander assure us that all the illegals have a deep love of America and a burning desire to express it by surrounding us with perfect piles of fresh picked veggies.
We would have to be like meanie racists to believe that murderous drug gangs would behave like murderous drug gangs on both sides of the border. Isn’t that profiling or something – how do we know that they aren’t really Swedish exchange students or a really large vacationing Minnesota family?
July 25th, 2010 at 6:02 am
This is ridiculous but I do hope it’s not true.
July 25th, 2010 at 6:20 am
[...] View full post on Top Stories – Google Blog Search [...]
July 25th, 2010 at 8:30 am
[...] if your from or near Laredo, Texas. can you confirm this? Los Zetas Drug Cartel Seizes Ranches In Texas Not True? Well……. Right Pundits UPDATE: There seems to be confusion from readers about this story concerning two things. One, the [...]
July 25th, 2010 at 11:30 am
We just heard about this Sat 24 Jul 10 and the news said nothing about it a Local officials are silent..kinda weird if it was’nt how come they just dont come out and say it.
July 26th, 2010 at 12:00 am
hmmm
July 26th, 2010 at 8:27 am
[...] Los Zetas Drug Cartel Seizes Ranches In Texas Not True? Well……. [...]
July 26th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Apparently Minerales, the location near which the alleged “seizure” is supposed to have occurred, is a colonia, which often means a shantytown of Hispanic squatters. See Google map.
As I said Sunday, July 25, in the meeting in Selma, Texas, my theory is that some Zetas went there to collect some drug money, met opposition, and in a firefight withdrew and took refuge in a couple of nearby ranches. By the time anyone could respond, they had escaped the scene, everyone in the area cleaned up and shut up, and we may no longer have evidence other than the words of a few people whose information is second-hand.
There have been such violent encounters elsewhere, in Arizona, California, and New Mexico, that have followed a similar pattern, except that some leave dead bodies. Almost everyone involved has a stake in covering it up.
I spoke to some people Sunday afternoon at a gun show in San Antonio who are attending to security for some ranchers, who provided confirmation that gangsters are oppressing ranchers in the area, to get them to allow operations across their land without interference. So that part seems to be happening, and has been for a long time. I have been reporting since 1995 of efforts by the drug traffickers to gain effective control of U.S. territory, along the border, in inner cities, and along transshipment corridors, through bribery, extortion, and intimidation of property owners and local officials. This was discussed by a lawyer, Joseph Delany, in an 1999 article.
If nothing else, this made a good start at a dry run, and we can learn some lessons from it, like whom we can count on.
So it may not have been a “hoax”, but a report that made it seem like something it wasn’t, by use of the word “seizure”, suggesting a long-term seizure of territory, rather than as a transitory incident.
We need to focus attention on the threats to U.S. sovereignty over our own territory that such intrusion involves. Border security is a separate issue from immigration, and even if immigrants were no more likely to commit crimes than citizens, the need to keep out criminals may be great enough to keep out harmless immigrants as well if the two cannot be distinguished.
July 29th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
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July 30th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Interestingly today Rick Perry and Judith Zafarini are in Laredo for a dog and pony show. The location of the dog and pony show was slated to be at a City of Laredo facility proximal to one of the “seized” ranches. The location of the dog and pony show was changed this week by the Laredo folks citing security concerns. Anyone that thinks that Los Zetas do not operate in Laredo and surrounding areas is naive at the very least.
July 30th, 2010 at 7:58 am
It is routine for cross-border “shipments” to occur through ranch properties where the property owners/tenants step aside rather than confronting Los Zetas. Can you blame them? I have spoken with a number of people that have witnessed these occurrences. There interest is not necessarily occupation of the ranches, merely unmolested passage for their contraband.