A turncoat unit of elite soldiers known as the Zetas that works in tandem with drug traffickers might have obtained SA-7 shoulder-mounted missile launchers off the black market, according to a report by a U.S. security consulting firm. Stratfor, which was hired by the U.S. Departments of State and Defense to carry out a study on the presence of the weapons in Latin America, warned in its report that drug-trafficking rings could be targeting President Vicente Fox.
The SA-7 missiles were produced by the Soviet Union and entered the black market after its demise. They are heat-seeking, have a range of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) and are mainly used to shoot down planes. Their market value can range from US50,000 to US200,000.
According to law enforcement data, the Zetas have the necessary military training to operate the arms, and previously had two of them which the army confiscated. The paramilitary group mainly operates with Osiel Cárdenas' Gulf Cartel, but they also engage in racketeering and extortion.
The weapons were introduced to the Americas during the Nicaraguan civil war in the 1980s, and could have subsequently been passed on to drug-smuggling groups, the report said. Stratfor listed Honduran crime rings and Colombian guerrilla groups among those who also likely obtained SA-7s in Latin America.
Although this report has raised concerns in Washington, when asked during a tour of the port city of Veracruz, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel refused to confirm that the Zetas have the dangerous arms.
