The leader of Los Zetas, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano has funded the Our Lady of the Lakes Chapel near Pachuca, a plaque at recognizes his generosity. The newspaper La Razon reported the plaque at the chapel reads: "John Paul II Catechesis Evangelization Center, donated by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano."

This is the second time the trafficker known as Z-3, El Lazca, El Verdugo has been known to donate to a Catholic cause. In 2009 his donation to a chapel in the in central Mexico village of Tezontle was marked with a plaque which read "Donated by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, Lord, hear my prayer."

The Catholic Church in Mexico has sort to distance itself from accusations that it has taken money from the drug cartels whose turf war have killed nearly 30,000 Mexicans in the last four years. The public remains sceptical and faced with the knowledge that many shrines and local churches may have been renovated with money from the drug cartels many Mexican’s are beginning to doubt the Church’s probity on these issues.

In 2005 the late Bishop Ramon Godinez Flores of Aguascalientes stirred controversy when he said, "All money can be transformed just as a corrupted person can also be transformed."

Los Zetas are amongst the most violent of all the Mexican cartels, much of the expertise stems from being trained by the United States military at Fort Bragg. They have recently pushed their operations south into Guatemala.