Illegal immigration in Mexico The routes of
illegal immigration in Mexico are stalked with "kidnappers, murderers, rapists and corrupt officials," and are regarded as "one of the most perilous migration routes in the world." Every year, tens of thousands of poor immigrants from
Central and
South America start their journey up to the north. Nonetheless, in the past few years, their journey "has become a horror show." According to
Amnesty International, armed and violent robberies used to be the biggest threat to those traveling up north; nowadays, kidnappings by organized crime groups are the norm (in this case,
Los Zetas). Typically, the kidnappers keep the victims in safe houses for days until relatives of the victims in the
United States or back home raise money to free the captives.
Torture is a common method used in incidents like this, and several victims have claimed after their liberation that they have seen people killed before their eyes for failing to pay their ransom.
Rape is also common in the migrants' journey, and even smugglers have advised women to carry contraceptive injections before starting their journeys. The migrants are also exploited, beaten, extorted, and abused by "authorities and criminals alike." The
National Human Rights Commission reported that "nearly 10,000 migrants were kidnapped in Mexico during a six-month period [in 2009]." The Mexican government, as a result, has been criticized for not providing "adequate security" for the migrants in its country. This massacre was the third time since the start of the
Mexican drug war that the Mexican authorities had "discovered large masses of corpses." The first one was in
Taxco, Guerrero, where several mass graves held up to
55 bodies. The second incident happened in
Nuevo León, where more than
70 bodies were found. In addition, the killings of the migrants highlighted an under-reported but highly profitable business: the kidnapping of migrants for money and work by the drug cartels in Mexico.
Before the violence Local residents claim that arms trafficking, car thefts, and drug trade have "always existed" in
San Fernando, but in 2004
Los Zetas arrived in the area. They began to establish themselves little by little, and local residents remember seeing convoys of "luxurious trucks entering and leaving the city, going into stores and buying goods". They claimed that before the
Mexican drug war (which began in 2006) and the rupture between the
Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas (which happened in early 2010), the cartels "would not kidnap or steal. In fact, they would always pay for the goods they bought in stores." They would live outside the city limits in ranches. But then they began to live in city neighborhoods, and the "people started to get involved with them." A local resident claimed that many families had "at least one member involved in the drug trade", and that is why he claims many in San Fernando were scared when the violence erupted. His mother gave instructions on what to do if he is kidnapped by the cartels:
Gulf-Zeta cartels split Before the violence erupted in Tamaulipas,
San Fernando was known for its bass fishing and dove hunting, and the area had long been popular with outdoor enthusiasts from Texas and other US states. One day, a group of dove hunters from
Houston, Texas reported being assaulted by a group of heavily armed gunmen in San Fernando. On 26 June 2010, just outside San Fernando, 15 bodies were found on
Federal Highway 101. The violence between the
Gulf Cartel and
Los Zetas, their former armed wing, continued. In 2010, Los Zetas broke apart from the Gulf Cartel and both organizations began to turn their weapons against each other. The clash between these two groups first happened in
Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and then expanded to
Nuevo Laredo and
Matamoros. The war then spread out through 11 municipalities of
Tamaulipas, 9 of them bordering the state of
Texas. Soon, the violence generated between these two groups had spread to Tamaulipas' neighboring states of
Nuevo León and
Veracruz. In the midsts of violence and panic, local authorities and the media tried to minimize the situation and claim that "nothing was occurring," but the facts were impossible to cover up. Confrontations between these two groups paralyzed entire cities in broad daylight. Several witnesses claimed that many of the municipalities throughout Tamaulipas were "war zones," and that many businesses and houses were burned down, leaving areas in "total destruction." The bloodbath in Tamaulipas has caused thousands of deaths, but many of the shootings and killings often go unreported. In the city of
San Fernando, Tamaulipas, the Gulf Cartel forces of
Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, alias
Tony Tormenta, "strung the bodies of fallen Zetas and their associates from light poles". The Gulf Cartel lashed out to attack Los Zetas at their stronghold in San Fernando. According to
The Monitor, the municipality of San Fernando is a "virtual spiderweb" of dirt roads that connect with
Monterrey,
Nuevo Laredo,
Reynosa, and
Matamoros—making it a prized territory for drug traffickers. The first shootout that occurred in San Fernando in 2010 happened near a hospital. According to local residents, heavily armed gunmen began to fight in certain avenues throughout the city, and even shot the police station. None of the shootings made it on the news. A man who was interviewed mentioned that even before the two massacres were discovered, people were being kidnapped at an alarming rate, but "they were scared" of the reprisals by the cartels. He went on to say that the cartels had San Fernando "under control," and that they "were the authority." Witnesses stated that the cartels would enter the city "in convoys with more than 200 SUVs", and that the policemen were no challenge for them. The cartel gunmen wore military uniform, were heavily armed, and would constantly attack policemen and other civilians alike. ==Massacre==