Zetas vs Gulf Cartel

According to rumor, the violence in northeastern Mexico started after “El Condor 3,” an associate of the leader of the Zetas, was assassinated by a member of the Gulf Cartel going by the nickname of “El Metro 3”. This reputedly happened on February 23 and broke up the relationship between the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Looking at the weekly number of homicides in Nuevo León (excluding the Monterrey metro area) and Tamaulipas there was a sharp rise in the number of homicides precisely during that week.