The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail

by Óscar Martínez

In this world of pilgrims without papers, kidnappings have become just as common as migrant assaults in La Arrocera, or the torture and mutilation of train hoppers throughout Mexico. It’s so common that in Tabasco we don’t need to go looking for it. After months of watching Los Zetas infiltrate the country, making it clear that they are an independent cartel (after splitting from the Gulf Cartel), after months of hearing their name and smelling the fear in the small towns of southern Mexico all the way to the northern border, we’re starting to understand who they are, how they work, and, above all, how they have such wide-ranging control. Their secret is simply fear. They shake the bones of policemen and taxi drivers, lawyers and migrants. All you need to do to get someone to dance the dance of fear is to utter the famous, simple motto: we are Los Zetas.