Anonymous vs. the Zetas

Doug Bernard

November 3, 2011

Periodically we like to share a few of the stories and posts from across the web that caught our eye. There are no editorial threads implied connecting these items together, other than being interesting.

A screen capture from one of Anonymous' videos threatening the Zeta drug cartel

#1: Anonymous vs. the Zetas. Over the last year, the hacker collective Anonymous has gone after a wide range of targets – the Sony Corporation, the CIA (the U.S. intelligence agency), and Barney the Dinosaur to name a few. But now, they’re facing a very different adversary: Mexico’s vicious Zetas drug cartel.

In several videos posted online, presumed members of Anonymous threaten the Zeta cartel with revealing the names and addresses of their top supporters, including journalists and police members, unless the Zetas release a member of the hacker group allegedly kidnapped. “You have made a great mistake taking one of us. Free him,” warns one masked messenger.

There are no confirmed details of the kidnapping, or little else about this story; which is no surprise, considering it pits a lawless “hacktivist” community against a powerful drug mob. One Anonymous spokesperson says the kidnapping happened in October in the Mexican city of Veracruz. In fact, that region is the power base of the illegal drug ring known as “Los Zetas.” The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency labels the Zetas as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary operating in Mexico, and in the past the Zetas have kidnapped, tortured and killed several journalists and online activists working to expose the cartel’s activities. On the other side, it’s presumed parts of the Anonymous collective are working in Mexico and may have information on the cartel’s supporters, but because of the hidden and highly decentralized nature of the group, it’s hard to know for sure.

It’s also not unusual for online activists to do battle with the drug cartels. “El Blog Del Narco” was one of the first, and still among the most popular, documenting the comings and goings of members and supporters of the Sinaloa drug cartel, a rival smuggling operation to the Zetas. And the cartels have violently struck back, recently hanging and mutilating several online activists from a bridge with signs warning that “this is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet.” The drug lords do not fool around.

But neither does Anonymous, which is why the threat is being taken seriously. If the group carries out its threat to post on November 4th, both members of the media and the drug cartels will work to confirm the information – the media to document it, and rival cartels to target their opponents. And spreading the risk around, any hackers the cartels have worked with in the past will also come under a shadow of suspicion. In the words of the masked Anonymous spokesperson, “Wait and see.”