Warning: Video displays images of extreme violence. Viewer discretion is recommended.

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Ostensibly Produced by: Los Zetas

Targeted Organization: Gulf Cartel

Released: as late as July 23, 2012.[1]

The video begins with the text, “Killing the Golfas Cartel informants.” It cuts to a dimly lit, indoor scene in which four prisoners are kneeling with their hands secured behind them. One is male and three are female. Four Zeta operatives stand around them. They are masked, and wear military style uniforms with the word “ZETAZ” across the breast. A fifth operative points an AK-47 at them as he interrogates. The questions are brief and to the point, establishing their complete name, and asking why they are here. Each answers with a name ending in “Banderas Padilla.” Each prisoner then states they are there because they are related to Comandante Diablo. They appear to include the mother, two sisters, and a brother-in-law of someone against whom the Zetas seek retribution, perhaps Comandante Diablo. Each prisoner is clubbed upon the crown, causing them to fall forward, apparently unconscious. Each is struck in the head at least once more. They are each beheaded by Zetas using large knives. Each appears unconscious and there is no visible struggle during the beheadings. The heads are lifted into the camera’s view, then haphazardly arranged upon the decapitated bodies.

The video concludes with a text message labeling their Gulf enemies a “Fucking vulgar cartel that only kills to heat things up, and doesn’t have the balls to confront those who are in the matter.” Name Calling was not addressed toward any of the prisoners individually. Collectively, however, they were associated with ‘shit’ (as “relatives” of Diablo). The insult “golfa” is a play on words, feminizing “golfo” to a slang word for “slut.” Testimony was used to suggest the family name of Diablo, and by extension, to advertise the Zetas’ willingness to take revenge against him. Card-Stacking is evident in the Zetas’ apparent opposition to killing innocents to heat up an enemy plaza, a tactic that has been used by most cartels, including the Zetas.