Sep 12, 2011

Drug War: The Zetas in Guatemala - Part II: The Modus Operandi

Insightcrime: "It is not a fancy video production. It begins, “Horse Races…Coban, Guatemala…September 15, 2010.” Two men -- one wearing a jockey’s uniform, the other in street clothes -- ready their horses behind a metal starting gate on a dirt track. Norteña music plays in the background. The camera scans the crowd: spectators wearing cowboy hats, sun glasses and jeans are smiling, taking in the scene from their pickup trucks. The gate pops up, and the horses sprint down the track to the joy of the audience.

The race would be an innocuous manifestation of local sport if it were not for the identities of those in attendance (see video below). It was one of many horse races chronicled that day in the 47-minute home video. But the footage provides a veritable who’s who of the Zetas-Overdick alliance, including top leaders, hitmen, bagmen and even a military attache. There are several Zetas’ commanders and lieutenants; Horst Walther Overdick and Overdick’s son, Walther Jr.; two suspected assassins and members of the groups’ money laundering operations; and finally, a Guatemalan military officer who, surprisingly, is dressed in full uniform as he watches.

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