Los Zetas executioner arrested near Hotel Oasis Cancún; hit team members captured

News from the "zona hotelera"

*Updates below*
Cancún, Quintana Roo --
A team of Los Zetas sicarios, sent by drug cartel bosses in Monterrey to carry out executions in Cancún and to "get control" of drug sales in the area, was taken into custody yesterday after their leader was spotted on the grounds of the Hotel Oasis Cancún. According to promotional literature, the Oasis is a popular three star resort "known as a spring breaker's paradise."

Authorities gave this account:

A hotel security officer noticed a suspicious looking man loitering in an area reserved for taxis and public transportation. He approached the man and asked him who he was and what he was doing in the area. The suspect replied that he was a travel agent checking out local facilities. When the security officer asked for identification, the man's demeanor changed immediately. He became very loud and aggressive, told the officer that he was a Los Zetas captain and warned him, "don't mess with me." The suspect pulled out a gun and pressed it against the security officer, who withdrew, entered the hotel and called police.

The suspect left on foot but municipal units stopped him not far away. They searched him and found a .40 caliber revolver strapped to the inside of his leg under his clothing. The 20 year old man was arrested.

During his interrogation, police identified four collaborators who had accompanied the man from Monterrey. The others were located and arrested separately; one of them was operating a taxi. The leader remained defiant and again warned officers that they were "going to end up like those three others did" earlier this week. He was referring to this case: Bodies of narco execution victims dumped near Cancún-Mérida highway. The man also told police that he and his team had been sent by two Zeta capos in Monterrey to "get things under control" in Cancún. Los Zetas and another local group, Los Pelones, are engaged in a bitter struggle for "control of the plaza." In Mexico the term refers to the monopolization of drug sales and other criminal activity in an area. Dozens of people have been killed since the vicious turf war erupted in 2011. Authorities say that Los Zetas dominate sales in the city's hotel zone.

This week's triple murder in Cancún thus may have been solved. But yesterday's arrests are one more piece of evidence that the city is being flooded with brutal executioners, and some of them are driving cabs. That can't be good for the area's economy or reputation.

Apr. 6: Four other Zetas assigned to operate in the city's hotel zone, including a 22 year old woman, were arrested yesterday. That makes a total of nine members of the organization arrested in the past 48 hours. These four admitted that they were working as halcones, or spies, to monitor police and military movements in Cancún's tourist district, as well as to keep an eye on their competitors and archenemies, Los Pelones.

Apr. 7: Of the nine Zetas, two have thus far been charged in the executions which occurred earlier this week, and others remain under investigation. The ringleader who was arrested near the Hotel Oasis is pictured above. Cancún authorities suspect he's involved in previous Zeta murders as well.

Sept. 30 - Two executed in Cancún hotel zone
Sept. 21 - Routine traffic stop in Mérida yields "Boss of the Plaza" in Cozumel, Playa del Carmen

Cancún
Should Cancún trips be canceled?: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/04/should-cancun-trips-be-canceled.html.
Execution in Cancún hotel zone: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/03/execution-in-cancun-hotel-zone.html.
Why are Los Zetas spies hanging out near Cancún hotel zone?: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/southern-zetas-operate-in-cancuns-hotel.html.
Los Pelones happily deliver drugs by taxi and death on demand in Cancún: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/in-cancun-los-pelones-happily-deliver.html.
Cancún narco violence claims another victim in 2012: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/cancun-narco-violence-claims-fifth.html.
American tourist, 15, sexually assaulted in five-star Cancún hotel: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-tourist-15-sexually-assaulted.html.
Mexico's Caribbean Riviera Maya in the hands of drug cartels and extortionists: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/mexicos-caribbean-riviera-maya-in-hands.html.

Will Los Zetas destroy the economy of Mexico's Riviera Maya?
2012 Spring Breakers cancel Cancún travel plans: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/spring-break-nears-but-us-students-are.html#more.
Drugs float ashore at Playa del Carmen: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/drugs-float-ashore-on-playa-del-carmen.html.
Who's running Quintana Roo, anyway? http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/los-zetas-are-taking-over-cancun-playa.html.
300 Q.R. businesses fold in 2011, facing ubiquitous extortion: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/300-businesses-close-in-cancun-riviera.html.
Can promotion of gay wedding industry check rising Los Zetas effect? http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/can-quintana-roo-state-save-itself-from.html.
Two women executed in Isla de Mujeres: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2011/10/two-women-executed-in-plush-isla-de.html.

Travel
Business is booming in Quintana Roo: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/despite-drug-violence-quintana-roo.html.
Cancun #1 choice of U.S. travelers: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/cancun-easily-1-choice-of-us-travelers.html.

How safe is Yucatán?
Yucatán and half of Mexico belong to Los Zetas: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/yucatan-and-half-of-mexico-belong-to.html.
U.S. greatly concerned by Mérida decapitations in 2008: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-greatly-disturbed-by-yucatan.html.