For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey, click here.
By Chris Covert
A total of eight men were shot to death in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon early Wednesday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.
The shootings took place near the intersection of calles Aramberri and MartÃn de Zavala near Zona Centro, where the victims were lined up and shot at least once in the back of the head. Reports say 20 9mm spent cartridge casings were found at the scene. The ages of the victims ranged from 15 to 35.
Local police made the discovery of the bodies while on routine patrol.
Reports say the victims had been kidnapped from throughout the city, gathered to the location and shot.
The method recalls a similar hit in Guadalajara in November when several individuals, presumably unrelated to organized or gang crime activity, were kidnapped over a brief period of time and then executed all at once.
That murder was performed in response to a similar hit against Los Zetas in Veracruz just weeks before by Los Matazetas group. That group was once thought by authorities to be a vigilante group, but it was later determined Los Matazetas were in fact affiliated with the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels.
To read the Rantburg report on the Veracruz mass murder by Los Matazetas in September, click here.
Guadalajara at the time was considered a Sinaloa/Gulf territory. Monterrey as late as the summer of 2010 was considered disputed, but mainly Los Zetas territory.
To read the Rantburg report on the Guadalajara mass murder, click here.
Currently, both the Los Zetas and gangs allied with the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels have been hitting each other in response to the others' attacks throughout Mexico.
The last mass murder by either side was performed near the end of 2011 year when 39 individuals were murdered in northern Veracruz state and southern Tamaulipas state.
Those hits were said by press reports to be the direct result of a massive redeployment of Mexican Army troops to northern border areas in Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and especially in Tamaulipas state. The tightened security had apparently forced organized crime gangs out of the north into previously unfamiliar territory.