8 taxi drivers killed in Mexico: why are they targeted by cartels?
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's site, Insightcrime.com. The views expressed are the author's own.
The murder of eight taxi drivers in a Monterrey suburb appears to be the latest assault by organized criminal groups against transport workers in , with the fingered as the killers.
The drivers were in two attacks on taxi service stations in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, on Tuesday afternoon. Two others, including a minor, were injured in the attacks. Local and federal authorities mobilized in response to the killings, but no suspects have been located so far. The two shootings occurred roughly 6 miles from one another, in a that relies on pirate taxis to connect residents to the city center.
Long considered to be among Mexico鈥檚 safest and most cosmopolitan cities, Monterrey and the surrounding region has turned into one of its most notoriously violent over the past two years. In 2010, the across Nuevo Leon, up from . The figure jumped once more in , to a total of 2,003. While much of Mexico has grown more violent in recent years, Monterrey鈥檚 status as Mexico鈥檚 industrial capital, its third largest city, and home to some of its wealthiest neighborhoods made its decline particularly alarming.
The violence has been driven by a split between two powerful former allies, the and the, who operate in the region. The fight originally began in Tamaulipas, which borders Nuevo Leon, after the Gulf assassinated a Zetas boss and refused to hand over the perpetrators. The battle spread across Mexico鈥檚 northeast, and Monterrey has been the site of some of the most notorious acts of violence in recent years.
Perhaps the most infamous incident was the murder of 52 casino patrons in August 2010, the result of a fire set by the Zetas as punishment for an unpaid extortion fee. It was the most deadly single attack in recent Mexican history. The outcry over the mass murder was heightened by the emergence of a Fernando Larrazabal apparently collecting an extortion payment from a Monterrey casino.
It remains unclear precisely why the taxi drivers were targeted, but initial reports fingered the Zetas. The group has steadily encroached upon a growing list of illicit activities, from pirate merchandising to oil theft. It would not be out of character for the Zetas to move into the pirate taxi racket as well, which could provoke violent incidents like the Guadalupe attacks.
Taxis also often serve as "halcones" or lookouts for criminal groups, warning of police deployments and guarding against other groups making inroads into a given city. If the pirate taxis were working for a criminal group, they would be targets for retribution from rival gangs. Some reports, citing anonymous police sources, alleged that the murdered (in Spanish).
Taxis also frequently serve to facilitate retail drug sales, and another explanation links the killings to a taxi driver who was recently (in Spanish). According to this version, based on testimony from a surviving taxi driver, the fired employee threatened his co-workers with vengeance from the Zetas.
Whatever the motive for the crime, it is not the first time that transport workers have been targeted by organized crime groups in Mexico; indeed, this has grown increasingly common. The same day as the Guadalupe killings, were killed in the southern resort city of Acapulco. In February, five Monterrey as they chatted while waiting for fares outside of a furniture store. Last year, in Acapulco, with organized crime groups presumed to be responsible (links in Spanish).
Buses have also been targeted. Last year, for instance, two after their owners refused demands from extortionists (in Spanish). The long-distance bus system has been linked to some of the most brutal incidents of the previous year: most of the hundreds of bodies found in mass graves in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, last spring had been passengers on buses passing through the region.
鈥� Patrick Corcoran is a writer for 鈥� Organized Crime in the Americas, which provides research, analysis, and investigation of the criminal world throughout the region.. Find all of his research
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