Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND DISTRESSING CONTENT
A disturbing video has been posted on Twitter showing suspected Mexican cartel members hacking the head off rivals with a knife and an axe.
The incident, intended to be a warning to a rival cartel, was reportedly filmed in the north-eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, bordering with the United States.
At the time of writing, the gruesome video is still available to view on Twitter and reportedly features armed members of the Tropas del Infierno (Troops of Hell), believed to be part of the Noreste Cartel.
The footage shows a group of men in military uniform with automatic weapons as three topless hostages are kneeling on the floor in front of them.
One cartel thug puts a knife to the first man’s head and the victim says to the camera: “This is happening to me because I have been an a*sehole for wanting to pass money to the idiot ‘El Viejon’ (‘The Old Man’) who works for ‘El Mencho’ of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
“But members of the Nuevo Laredo Cartel (also known as the Noreste Cartel) caught me before I arrived at the place, so they are going to find you too El Mencho.
“They are coming for you, you dirty f*cking old man. One day, they will catch you, you son of a b*tch.”
The cartel members then cut the man’s neck and gradually decapitate him with a knife and an axe before starting on the two other men kneeling next to him.
The Noreste Cartel reportedly posted the disturbing footage on social media and it was later shared by others on Twitter.
The video is believed to be a warning for the CJNG to not encroach on the Noreste Cartel’s territory.
Local media said the state’s public prosecutor’s office is investigating the matter.
According to reports, the Noreste Cartel split from the Los Zetas criminal syndicate which was part of the Gulf Cartel.
They reportedly formed in 2015 when the former Los Zetas leader Omar Trevino Morales, aka El Z-42, was arrested.
There is an alleged violent turf war going on near the US border between the Noreste Cartel and the CJNG, one of Mexico’s largest criminal organisations with activities in 28 of the country’s 32 states.
They are believed to be vying for control of the northern territory to traffic narcotics in to the US.
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