(AP) -- LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A federal jury heard graphic descriptions Friday of gruesome methods used by Zetas against a rival Mexican drug cartel.
The San Antonio Express-News reports the testimony came in the trial in Laredo of Gerardo Chavez, accused of participating in a mammoth drug-trafficking conspiracy run by the Zetas and the Gulf cartel.
Drug Enforcement Administration agent Chris Diaz testified that agents who had tapped the telephone of a Zetas hit man heard him speak of toasting the Santa Muerte, a folk saint revered by Mexican drug traffickers, with the blood of one of two teenage victims.
Earlier Friday, former Zetas hit man Raul Jasso Junior testified that his colleagues believed the two teens, 14-year-old Inez Abundo Villarreal and 19-year-old Alfonso "Poncho" Aviles, worked for the rival Sinaloa Cartel.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT