Federal wiretap captures rare candid conversation between teen Zeta hitmen
5:00 PM Tue, Aug 26, 2008
Jason Trahan

The violence practiced by the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel enforcement arm responsible for much of Dallas-Fort Worth's cocaine supply, has been widely reported here and along the Texas-Mexico border.

But it's not often that you get to listen in on a hitman's conversations.

New federal court documents in an ongoing Laredo drug and murder conspiracy case illustrate a trend we reported on last fall, involving the cartel's use American teenagers as "sicarios," or hitmen, to wipe out rival cartel members.

Here's a snippet of a conversation between Gabriel Cardona-Ramirez and fellow sicario Rosalio Reta, talking about the murders of two supposed cartel rivals in 2006.

At that time, Reta and Cardona-Ramirez were in their mid to late teens. The victims they speak of were 14 and 19.

Their conversation references some of the Zetas more violent and disturbing tactics, including "el guiso," in which a body is put in a 55-gallon drum, drench with gas or diesel fuel and set on fire.

Cardona-Ramirez also talks about how he made an offering to "Santa Muerte," or St. Death, a narco-trafficking idol.

Mostly, though, it reads like two kids talking about a video game. Here's the Laredo Morning Times report on the new info: http://madmax.lmtonline.com/textarchives/081208/s2.htm




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