Most gruesome cartel killings – human face masks, blood sport and execution vids

Wars between rival drug cartels and clashes with authorities have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in South America.

According to the Congressional Research Service, some 150,000 homicides were related to organised crime between 2006 and 2018 in Mexico alone, with tens of thousands of other people having “disappeared”.

Aside from the sheer number, the disturbing aspect of these killings is how rival cartels continue to find increasingly gruesome ways of offing their victims as they settle scores and seek to exert control through fear.

One of the cartels most linked to the increase in stomach-churning violence is Los Zetas, set up by former Mexican Army commandos who deserted their ranks after being trained by US forces.

In March 2011 they were responsible for the mass murder of 193 people in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Cartel hitmen abducted civilians from buses, reportedly because they feared the rival Gulf Cartel were bringing in reinforcements from other states, before torturing and executing them.