2012 Nuevo Laredo massacres

The 2012 Nuevo Laredo massacres were a series of mass murder attacks between the allied Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel against Los Zetas in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, across the U.S.-Mexico border from Laredo, Texas. The drug-violence in Nuevo Laredo began back in 2003, when the city was controlled by the Gulf Cartel. Most media reports that write about the Mexican Drug War, however, point to 2006 as the start of the drug war.^[1] That year is a convenient historical marker because that's when Felipe Calderón took office and carried out an aggressive approach against the cartels. But authors like Ioan Grillo and Sylvia Longmire note that Mexico's drug war actually began at the end of Vicente Fox's administration in 2004,^[1] when the first major battle took place in Nuevo Laredo between the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetas, who at that time worked as the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel.^[1][2]

When Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel, was arrested in 2003, the Sinaloa Cartel, sensing weakness, tried to move in on Nuevo Laredo, unleashing a bloody battle.^[3] Los Zetas, however, were successful in expelling the Sinaloa organization out of Nuevo Laredo, and have ruled the city "with fear" ever since.^[3] Nevertheless, the Gulf cartel and Los Zetas broke relations in early 2010, worsening the violence across northeast Mexico.^[4] The cartels are fighting for control of the corridor in Nuevo Laredo that leads into Interstate 35, one of the most lucrative routes for drug traffickers.^[5] Nuevo Laredo is a lucrative drug corridor because of the large volume of trucks that pass through the area, and the multiple (exploitable) ports of entry.^[6] Over 40% of all cargo crossings from Mexico to the United States crosses through the border checkpoints in Nuevo Laredo.^[7] It is for the same reason that Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez are so valuable for the drug trafficking organizations.^[6]