MEXICO CITY, April 15, 2008

Help Wanted: Mexican Gang Seeks Hitmen

Violent Drug Cartel Brazenly Advertises Its Need For Hired Guns In Border Town

  • A truck, carrying Mexican army soldiers, drives past a pedestrian bridge where a giant banner signed by the Zetas, the enforcement arm of the Gulf drug cartel, hangs in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, northern Mexico, Sunday, April 13, 2008. The banner reads in Spanish: Photo

    A truck, carrying Mexican army soldiers, drives past a pedestrian bridge where a giant banner signed by the Zetas, the enforcement arm of the Gulf drug cartel, hangs in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, northern Mexico, Sunday, April 13, 2008. The banner reads in Spanish: "Operative group 'The Zetas' wants you, soldier or ex-soldier. We offer a good salary, food and benefits for your family. Don't suffer anymore mistreatment and don't go hungry. We wont give you instant noodle soup."  (AP Photo)

(AP)  Hitmen tied to Mexico's Gulf cartel appear to be boldly seeking recruits by posting help-wanted signs in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, including a giant banner hung across a thoroughfare, a federal anti-drug enforcement official said Monday.

The banner appeared over the weekend in Nuevo Laredo near the border with Texas: “Operative group 'The Zetas' wants you, soldier or ex-soldier. We offer a good salary, food and benefits for your family. Don't suffer anymore mistreatment and don't go hungry.”

The Zetas is the enforcement arm of the Gulf cartel and is made up of former Mexican soldiers. Photos of the banner were displayed prominently in Mexico's national media on Monday.

An official of the federal attorney general's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give his name, told The Associated Press that authorities believe the banner is authentic, although they are still investigating.

He said officials believe the banner may be a response to the government after it posted signs in several cities with the photos of three Zeta members, asking people to call police if they see them.

In Nuevo Laredo, those signs were recently defaced and several had a telephone number written across them, the official said. The same telephone number appeared on the banner. The Associated Press called the number, but a recording said the number does not exist.

Security expert Jose Luis Pineyro said the recruiting effort could be drug traffickers' way of thumbing their noses at the federal government, but is unlikely to be an effective way of bringing in new blood.

“On the contrary, those who have decided to desert or remain inside the armed forces as spies are already doing that,” Pineyro said.

Earlier this month, law enforcement officials said drug cartels were using classified ads to lure young Mexicans in Ciudad Juarez into unknowingly working as drug couriers.

Mexico City's El Universal newspaper first reported the trend, citing ads in Ciudad Juarez newspapers that require applicants to have the U.S. visa needed to drive a vehicle across the border but do not mention job experience.

A federal official, not authorized to give his name, said applicants often think they are applying to become messengers, but they end up unwittingly driving vehicles loaded with drugs into neighboring El Paso, Texas.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for the El Paso Police Department, said he was aware of the trend and had seen several teenagers charged after being found with loads of drugs in their cars.

Tighter border security on both sides has forced drug cartels to find creative ways to move their contraband into the U.S.

Mexican authorities say cartels are training new recruits in the face of President Felipe Calderon's nationwide crackdown. Since taking office in 2006, Calderon has sent more than 20,000 troops to areas plagued by drug violence.


© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Add a Comment See all 25 Comments
by frankreach April 15, 2008 11:28 AM PDT
As an American, you''re comment disgust me.
Reply to this comment
by endpcnow April 15, 2008 11:49 AM PDT
Mexico was, is and will be nothing more than a corrupt, stagant cesspool. They displace legal American citizens and legal immigrants with their foreign language, incompatible and barbaric culture, i.e., horse tripping dog fighting, *** fighting, cop killings, female abuse, corruption all levels, drug distribution and worse. They strut their arrogance while breaking our laws. Mexicans present bumper stickers in Los Angeles that read, "F**k You! This is Mexico." One TV station pasted up a billboard that read, "Welcome to Los Angeles, Mexico." They can keep their crappy culture south of the border!!
Reply to this comment
by usbrit-2009 April 15, 2008 12:01 PM PDT
gunownerdan - boy do I have a job for you!!!
Reply to this comment
by fastfredy1 April 15, 2008 12:19 PM PDT
Screw these vermin people. i see it every day in Fairfax Va, they live like pigs and act like there are no laws at all. They do not want or care to learn english or our laws. they are nothing more than illiterate stupid animals
Reply to this comment
by fastfredy1 April 15, 2008 12:20 PM PDT
And screw George lopez. Go home mexican go home we hate you.
Reply to this comment
by blackbug99 April 15, 2008 12:23 PM PDT
I''m sorry that Mexico even borders America. They have no self pride in their own country, but they want it to be all about Mexico when they illegally come over here. Canada, on the other hand, is a great neighbor. LOL, maybe a bit left of liberal, but they educate and take care of their people, so that''s their right. The Spanish should never have been allowed to colonize.
Reply to this comment
by questionnews April 15, 2008 12:31 PM PDT
How does Canada deal with people illegally in thier country & does Canada offers all the free stuff to illegal immigrants as the US does?? You never hear of these problems up there. I am curious as to why the illegal hoard stops at the Canadian boarder.
Reply to this comment
by bot5plus April 15, 2008 12:34 PM PDT
Man am I glad to see all the hate towards these butt scratchig, goat herding, puta lovin, brown little stinking Pedros. The are browning America and diluting the gene pool. Let''s takem out like prarie dogs. Gunownerdan, do you vermin (varmint) hunt? Since our government won''t do anything about it, can we form vigilante hunting groups and stand off at a distance? Any ideas, call the guns guys. They are the only ones that will save this country1
Reply to this comment
by sunshie25 April 15, 2008 12:36 PM PDT
Screw these vermin people. i see it every day in Fairfax Va, they live like pigs and act like there are no laws at all. They do not want or care to learn english or our laws. they are nothing more than illiterate stupid animals


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Posted by fastfredy1 at 12:19 PM : Apr 15, 2008



Ahhh, racism and ignorance - alive and well in the US of A....s h u t u p, you moron.
Reply to this comment
by fastfredy1 April 15, 2008 12:37 PM PDT
Recently watched an Hispanic woman with her horde of kids in a Giant grocery store in Fairfax VA open a pack of lunch meat and bread as she went thru the stor fed her kids then threw the empty packet in some shelf and walked away. I turned her in. All you heard was No comprehenda. Screw her.
Reply to this comment
by fastfredy1 April 15, 2008 12:39 PM PDT
Let them live next to you then. Whaaaaaaaa!

Ahhh, racism and ignorance - alive and well in the US of A....s h u t u p, you moron.


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Posted by sunshie25 at 12:36 PM : Apr 15, 2008
Reply to this comment
by sunshie25 April 15, 2008 12:41 PM PDT
Recently watched an Hispanic woman with her horde of kids in a Giant grocery store in Fairfax VA open a pack of lunch meat and bread as she went thru the stor fed her kids then threw the empty packet in some shelf and walked away. I turned her in. All you heard was No comprehenda. Screw her.


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Posted by fastfredy1 at 12:37 PM : Apr 15, 2008

What IS it with you, dude? Calm down. You know not of what you speak. Of course, your threads make you sound like you know not much of anything. If you want to start stereotyping, let''s start with "people like you" - ignorant j e r k s that spout off at issues which you do not understand. Sure, IF your story is true, then that woman stole, but have you ever lived in abject poverty? People live it every day in this country. In a first-world country. Think about that before you spout of at the a** the way you have been.
Reply to this comment
by sunshie25 April 15, 2008 12:43 PM PDT
Let them live next to you then. Whaaaaaaaa!


Better them than you.
Reply to this comment
by fastfredy1 April 15, 2008 12:43 PM PDT
So do you put up with this *** every day in your neck of the woods? Come to Northern VA.
Reply to this comment
by lloydbest1 April 15, 2008 12:48 PM PDT
So....What have any of these previous posts have to do with the article? What I took from it was there is a problem with drug gangs being powerful enough and confident enough in their government sponsors that they can openly recruit members and advertise jobs that covert entities worldwide would call "wet" operations.
As corrupt and criminal as our own government is, can Calderon claim his is any better?
Reply to this comment
by sunshie25 April 15, 2008 12:52 PM PDT
So do you put up with this *** every day in your neck of the woods? Come to Northern VA.


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Posted by fastfredy1 at 12:43 PM : Apr 15, 2008

I live near a very large mexican community - in fact, I share an apartment building with three mexican families. Maybe they are different here (Washington State) than they are there, because they are polite and respectful and quiet. They work hard (leaving when I am walking my dog at 5 a.m and arriving home long after I have finished my dinner) and do not live in squalor. I am not saying they are all like that, but I have a hard time relating your stories to the large number of hispanic-descent people I know here.
Reply to this comment
by questionnews April 15, 2008 12:53 PM PDT
Sure, IF your story is true, then that woman stole, but have you ever lived in abject poverty? People live it every day in this country. In a first-world country. Think about that before you spout of at the a** the way you have been.

Posted by sunshie25 at 12:41 PM : Apr 15, 2008


I see. In your mind, if you come to the US from a poor country then theft is justified & should not be looked upon as a bad thing.
How about thrashing the environment? Two houses down from mine there are around 22 adults mexican in a 1100 sq. ft. house & about 9 cars spread out on the streets & in the yards. Last month they all got together to change the oil in about 8 of the cars and guess where the old oil went? Right on the ground on the empty lot next to thier house.
Reply to this comment
by marcpcbs April 15, 2008 12:59 PM PDT
Who knew it would be so hard to find a "HIT MAN" in Mexico?
Reply to this comment
by sunshie25 April 15, 2008 1:02 PM PDT
see. In your mind, if you come to the US from a poor country then theft is justified & should not be looked upon as a bad thing.
How about thrashing the environment? Two houses down from mine there are around 22 adults mexican in a 1100 sq. ft. house & about 9 cars spread out on the streets & in the yards. Last month they all got together to change the oil in about 8 of the cars and guess where the old oil went? Right on the ground on the empty lot next to thier house.


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Posted by Questionnews at 12:53 PM : Apr 15, 2008

No, not justified. But would you steal to feed your children? I guess not, given your comment. I would. I would steal to feed my kids in an instant. If I had exhausted every possible legal means to do feed them, of course. You don''t know, no one does, whether this woman HAD used every resource available to her.....
Reply to this comment
by sunshie25 April 15, 2008 1:04 PM PDT
How about thrashing the environment? Two houses down from mine there are around 22 adults mexican in a 1100 sq. ft. house & about 9 cars spread out on the streets & in the yards. Last month they all got together to change the oil in about 8 of the cars and guess where the old oil went? Right on the ground on the empty lot next to thier house.

Furthermore, I have seen born-and-bred americans doing this, too. It''s not a cultural thing, it''s an i d i o t thing.
Reply to this comment
by drputt45 April 15, 2008 1:07 PM PDT
Well down here in Texas we noticed a long line of cars waiting to cross the border into Nuevo Laredo. Maybe they can help with our jobless problem. Hitmen heading south on the NAFTA highway.
Reply to this comment
by lovegetpeace April 15, 2008 1:27 PM PDT
Its amazing how strong the demand for narcotic drugs in the United States.

Americans are so bored with life, they have to resort to drugs to get a little high out of their life. The previous generation of Americans threw all joyful traditions out the window. Today youth Americans grew up with just video games. They have wasted and are wasting so much life. This is a huge intangible cost to society.
Reply to this comment
by lovegetpeace April 15, 2008 1:33 PM PDT
Its amazing how strong the demand for narcotic drugs in the United States. The suppliers follow the demand as they say in Capitalism.

Americans are so bored with life, they have to resort to drugs to get a little high/excitement out of their sick life. The previous generation of Americans threw all good family traditions out the window. Today youth Americans grew up with just video games. They have wasted and are wasting so much life. This is a huge intangible cost to society in Mexico and United States. Americans are sure addicted to Oil and Drugs.
Reply to this comment
by libsrweak April 15, 2008 6:38 PM PDT
Posted by sunshie25 at 12:52 PM : Apr 15, 2008
+ report abuse


**********************************

A lot of communities from coast to coast WOULD DIAGREE WITH YOU..
Reply to this comment
by libsrweak April 17, 2008 12:02 AM PDT
Posted by lovegetpeace at 01:33 PM : Apr 15, 2008
+ report abuse

******

welcome to the "I" generation.....iphone, igoogle, ipods.
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