Hartley was killed by members of a powerful Mexico-based organized crime organization known as Los Zetas

Mexican officials who are investigating the case believe Hartley was killed by members of a powerful Mexico-based organized crime organization known as Los Zetas, a group long on the radar of American law enforcement and the U.S. Justice Department.


The Department of Justice’s coordinated actions against the Gulf Cartel/Los Zetas drug trafficking organization, now known as the “Company,” resulted in a number of indictments of the gang’s leaders prior to the Hartley murder case. One of those charged last year, Miguel Trevino-Morales, was a principal leader of Los Zetas, originally a security force used by the Gulf Cartel. Los Zetas, whose origin includes former members of the Air Mobile Special Forces Group of the Mexican military, have evolved into not only a security force but a drug trafficking organization in their own right.

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