The YouTube message, which claims to be from Anonymous
“Veracruz, Mexico and the world,” says it is “tired of the criminal group the
Zetas, which is dedicated to kidnapping, stealing and extortion,” and threatens
to fight back with information instead of weapons.
It said it knows of police officers, journalists, taxi
drivers and others working with the Zetas.
The video refers to an unidentified person kidnapped in the
coastal city of Veracruz, and says: “You have made a great mistake by taking
one of us. Free him.”
The hacker group, which has claimed responsibility for
attacks on corporate and government websites worldwide, supposedly will act
Friday if the kidnapped activist is not freed or is harmed, according to the
message.
“We cannot defend ourselves with weapons, but we can with
their cars, houses, bars,” the message adds, apparently alluding to properties
owned by cartel supporters. “It’s not difficult. We know who they are and where
they are are.”
“Information is free,” it says. “We do not forgive. We do
not forget.”
An official with the Veracruz state attorney general’s
office, who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak on the
record, said the office could not confirm video’s authenticity or the case of
the kidnapping.
Veracruz, an oil state on the Gulf of Mexico with a major
port of the same name, has seen a spike in drug violence in recent months in
what authorities say is a battle between the Zetas drug cartel, which has
controlled the territory for at least a year, and its rivals. Dozens of bodies
have been showing up in recent weeks, including the dumping of 35 last month on
a main highway in rush-hour traffic in the city of Boca del Rio.
Two other Internet postings since July have announced the
arrival of group that calls itself the “Mata Zetas,” or Zeta Killers, who
authorities say are likely aligned with the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. Others
have raised questions about whether the group’s members are vigilantes or other
rogue bands taking justice into their own hands against the Zetas.
The new message, presented by someone wearing a theater mask
that is a trademark of Anonymous, was reportedly uploaded to websites early
this month, but was first reported Friday on the website of the global
intelligence think tank Stratfor.
Stratfor, in its analysis of the video, said anyone exposed
by Anonymous as a Zetas collaborator — accurately or not — would be targeted by
rival gangs, and the Zetas could respond by attacking Internet activists even
if they are not affiliated with Anonymous.
Three people have been killed recently in the northern
states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas by suspected Zetas who apparently believed
the victims used the Internet to spread information about the gang.
