The Mexican military has detained eight alleged members of the Gulf Cartel in connection with the dumping of 49 mutilated corpses in Nuevo Leon, a massacre which the Gulf apparently tried to blame on rival group the Zetas.

Messages signed in the name of the Zetas have appeared in Mexico, denying that the group left 49 mutilated bodies on a roadside in Nuevo Leon, further muddying a case in which no one knows the identity of the victims, who killed them, or why.

The discovery of close to 50 mutilated bodies in a northeastern Mexico state, which was quickly blamed on the Zetas criminal syndicate, marks another escalation of the stakes in the country's bloodiest and most public cartel war, and possibly a peek into the near future of how that war will unfold.

The kidnapping of migrants who travel through Mexico on their way to the United States has become a “systematic and generalized” practice by organized crime groups such as the Zetas, who demand ransom payments from families or recruit them into their ranks, according to a new report.

Authorities in Jalisco, Mexico have discovered 18 human heads, along with other body parts, in two abandoned vehicles, possibly the Zetas' revenge for attacks by the Sinaloa Cartel in Nuevo Laredo.

Guatemala announced it will deploy nearly 300 members of special operations force the Kaibiles to its northern border with Mexico, even though the unit has a troubled history of ties to the Zetas.

Mexican criminal organizations like the Zetas and Gulf Cartel may be charging mines up to $37,000 a month in "security" fees, a practice more commonly seen in Colombia.

In the latest outbreak of violence in Mexican border city Nuevo Laredo, 23 bodies were found on Friday accompanied by notes indicating that they were victims of a war between the Zetas, the Sinaloa and the Gulf Cartel.

Authorities are reportedly investigating the possible involvement of the Zetas in a recent clash between local residents and the military in northern Guatemala. However, to suggest the Zetas have a stake in what appears to be a political issue is a stretch, and may be a move to discredit the protesters.

The deaths of at least a dozen people in clashes in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, as rival groups linked to the Zetas move into "Chapo Guzman's" home territory, may be evidence that the concept of the "plaza" dominated by a single group is losing its force.