Members of the hackers group 'Anonymous' have called off a cyber attack against a Mexican drug cartel after one of their kidnapped members was reportedly freed.
The group released a statement released on their Twitter Account @IberoAnon on Thursday night.
Earlier this week, members of Anonymous alleged the Zetas drug cartel had kidnapped one of their members in Veracruz.
The hackers group vowed to unmask allies of the Zetas on Saturday, November 5th unless their kidnapped member had been freed by that time.
In the statement released on Thursday, the group reported that kidnapped Anonymous member had indeed been freed.
Freed, But Threatened
Although their member had been freed, the group reported that their member had been asked to deliver a message.
The liberated member of the group was told that one member of his/her family would be killed for each and every Zetas ally that the group unmasks.
The Ibero-wing of Anonymous had set up a channel of communication on the #OpCartel hashtag on Twitter.
The group defended its decision to call off the attack in a series of messages posted to Twitter early Friday morning.
"For those who call us cowards, they're acting brave because it's not their family who's been threatened," the group wrote in Spanish. "I hope they never have to make a decision like that."
Defending Criticism
The group said continuing "Operation Cartel" would have condemned innocent people to death.
"If this doesn't hurt you, then you're the same as the Zetas," the group wrote in Spanish.
The group had had received criticism on Twitter but insisted the decision was made for the right reasons.
"Those that insist on #OpCartel aren't doing so out of a desire for change, they're doing it for simply being morbid," the group said in Spanish. "We're asking for respect for our freed member."
The group's last statement was issued around 1:18 a.m. Friday.
"Those who call us accomplices of the Zetas and cowards show their lack of interest for the lives of others their sick egoism," the group wrote in Spanish.
Cartel Threat
Anonymous reported that the Zetas had posted a message to the Twitter account @pinkie1995 to threaten members of the hackers group earlier in the day on Thursday.
A message on the account, which used the name of supreme Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, vowed to track down members of the group using their IP address.
Anonymous responded by replying on their Twitter account that their cybersecurity was too sophisticated for the Zetas.
According to a message on the @pinkie1995 Twitter account, the cartel responded, "For us, nothing is impossible."
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT