The Zetas, once the armed wing of the Gulf cartel, have increasingly branched out on their own and are seen by Mexican authorities as one of the country’s most brutal crime groups, known for gruesome tactics such as beheading victims.

In addition to drug trafficking, authorities say, the Zetas are involved in extortion, kidnapping, producing pirated CDs and DVDs, sales of alcohol and migrant smuggling.-

The gang has been locked in a bloody turf war

in western Mexico with a gang known as La Familia, which on Monday posted banners around the state of Michoacan calling on Mexicans to join its fight against the Zetas and help clean the streets from the dirty thugs.

La Familia Michoacana: Drug trafficking and protection.

unlike the zetas this drug cartel is not killing innocent people , furthermore it goes out of its way to tell people not to associate themselves with the zetas. La Familia Michoacana also helps communities by punishing thieves , rapist and extortionist.

The highway shootout was the latest outbreak of violence in Torreon, which is the center of a region known as the Laguna, a major milk producer.

Early Sunday, 10 people died and 13 were wounded when four gunmen in a convoy burst into a Torreon bar and opened fire with high-powered weapons. Bodies were strewn on the sidewalk outside and inside the bar.

On Tuesday, a written message surfaced on YouTube that referred to the Sunday slayings. It warned Torreon authorities and residents against having anything to do with the Zetas, including patronizing bars that it said the gang runs.

-www.latimes.com