Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, alias ‘Z-3‘ has constructed a huge mausoleum as his final resting place in Hidalgo state, Mexico, according to El Universal.
El Universal reports that the identity of the modernist structure’s owner is an open secret in the city of Tezontle. Lazcano apparently also paid for the construction of a church in Tezontle, which is thought to be his hometown.
InSight Crime Analysis
Lazcano’s mausoleum is only the latest example of the extravagant burial arrangements of Mexico’s drug kingpins. InSight Crime has analyzed a cemetary in Culiacan where several deceased members of the Sinaloa Cartel have their resting places. The elaborate tombs are fitted out in ivory and gold, and have electricity, telephone lines and stereo systems.
Although the tomb is not unusual for the resting place of a drug lord, the fact that it belongs to a Zetas boss is more interesting. As InSight Crime has previously noted, some analysts identify two distinct branches of narco-culture; the traditional Sinaloa-style traffickers who aspire to a patina of respectability, and prefer to buy off local politicians, and the new wave of Zetas-style groups who trade in a bling-heavy gangster image, and assert themselves through ultra-violent acts of intimidation.
The idea of a Zetas leader building a church is also striking, as the Zetas tend to rule their territories through brutal shows of force, rather than by trying to win over the population through public works.