Beheading of Mexican 'drug dealer' on YouTube
Natalia Parra in Acapulco - Tuesday April 3, 2007
A video purportedly showing the beheading of a drug cartel hitman appeared on YouTube with an appeal for Mexicans to kill more members of the gang.
The rival Gulf and Sinaloa gangs are fighting over trafficking routes while President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of troops in a crackdown.
"Do something for your country, kill a Zeta!" read a message opening the five-minute video posted on Friday. The Zetas are believed to be ex-army operatives serving as hit men for Mexico's Gulf cartel.
The footage shows a man in his underwear tied to a chair with a "Z" written on his chest and the message: "Welcome, kill women and children. Continue Ostion." It is unclear who Ostion is. One of the man's legs is also marked with the name Lazcano, possibly referring to Heriberto Lazcano, a suspected leader of the Zetas.
The unseen interrogator repeatedly asks the man about the February 6 killing of five police officers and two secretaries in Acapulco. He is punched several times until saying he took part in the attacks. He is then strangled and beheaded. The footage ends with the message: "Lazcano you're next."
A message on YouTube late on Sunday said the video had been removed.
The government news agency Notimex reported that police in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, were investigating the video. State police officials were not immediately available for comment.
A representative at Mexico's attorney general's office said she had no information on whether the video was being investigated by federal authorities.
Mexican drug traffickers have begun videotaping their killings and carrying out beheadings, like Iraqi insurgents, as warnings. In Iraqi videos, however, the aggressors use knives to cut off their victims heads. In the Mexican video, the man is strangled with a cord. The video then skips to an image of his headless body.
The killings in Acapulco were among the most brazen attacks since Mr Calderon's crackdown. Witnesses said the killings by more than a dozen men were videotaped by the assailants, although authorities have never found any recording.
Federal authorities are investigating whether the officers had links to drug traffickers. No one has been charged.
guardian
