Roberto Saviano - ZeroZeroZero

When Los Zetas kill their enemies, they are sadistic, their revenge exemplary: They burn bodies, stuff them into barrels filled with diesel oil, dismember them. In January 2008 in San Luis Potosí, during a roundup that led to the arrest of Héctor Izar Castro, alias El Teto, considered the leader of the local Zetas cell, weapons of all sorts were found, along with three paddles with a raised letter Z on them: This way, when they beat their victims their mark is imprinted on their skin. To terrify their rivals they often cut off their victims’ genitals and stuff them in their mouths, and hang headless bodies from bridges. In early January 2010 Hugo Hernández, thirty-six years old, was kidnapped in the state of Sonora, taken to Los Mochis in nearby Sinaloa, killed, and cut into seven pieces by men from a rival cartel. The victim’s face was skinned, fixed to a soccer ball, and left in a plastic bag near city hall with a note: “Have a Happy New Year, because this one will be your last.” Other body parts were found in two plastic barrels: in one his torso; in the other his arms, legs, and faceless skull. Dismemberment is the language of Los Zetas. They make bodies disappear inside already occupied tombs, or bury them in clandestine cemeteries within their strongholds, or dump them in mass graves. They often bury their victims alive. Or dissolve them in acid.

Los Zetas are bloodthirsty assassins, yet they have one characteristic in common with normal kids thousands of miles away: They love television, that dangerous teacher. Violent films and reality shows are cultural reference points. One day in San Fernando, a village about eighty-five miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, Los Zetas stopped several buses traveling along Highway 101 and made the passengers get off and fight like gladiators, armed with clubs and knives. Whoever survived was guaranteed a place with Los Zetas. Whoever succumbed was buried in a mass grave. In spring 2011, such a grave was discovered in San Fernando; it contained 193 corpses, the victims all killed with powerful blows to the head.

And this sadistic carnage occurred just a few months after what has become known as the First San Fernando Massacre. More innocent victims, more mass graves: August 24, 2010. More than seventy illegal immigrants from South and Central America were trying to cross the U.S. border at Tamaulipas. We know about them from a man from Ecuador who survived. In San Fernando he and his companions were joined by a group of Mexicans claiming to be Los Zetas. They herded the immigrants onto a farm and started beating them up. One by one. They either hadn’t paid the “toll” for crossing the border into Los Zetas territory or — more likely — they hadn’t accepted the Zetas’ “request” that they work for them. Los Zetas don’t take no for an answer. They shot the immigrants in the head. The Ecuadorian was wounded in the neck and played dead, but later he managed to escape and miraculously reached a roadblock manned by the Mexican army. The soldiers, following his directions, went to the farm and had a shoot-out with Los Zetas. When it was over they found the seventy-two bodies: fifty-eight men and fourteen women, all piled in a heap.

Los Zetas are notoriously the masters of violence, but they’re learning at their own expense that they can be surpassed by their pupils. Some of Los Zetas’ rival cartels began to not just cut their enemies’ heads off but to replace them with pigs’ heads and — of course — post the video on the Internet.

Ferocity is learned. Ferocity works by its own rules. Ferocity spreads, like an invading army. Los Zetas and Ángel Miguel know this. Now I know it too.

Like something sacred, whose name cannot be uttered,

like a secret lover you hold close in your thoughts,

like an empty surface where every word can be written,

such is the one you seek, evoke, call out to in a thousand ways.

Her every name is a desire and a driving force,

a metaphor, an ironic illusion.

She’ll make you joyful and desperate, she’s the one you want

at all times, all places, all ways.

In America, you can call her 24/7 ,

like your neighborhood drugstore,

or Aspirin , like that effervescent

that makes you feel better, and in Italy Vitamin C

because it’s how you cure your cold.

C is her letter—

you can simply call her that—

or Charlie,

the C all pilots and radio operators know.

Or at the take-away of desires,

order Number 3, the third letter,

punch in C-game, C-dust , or call her Caine ,

her second syllable, which sounds like Cain.

Choose any female name with C:

Corinne Connie Cora Cory or most common of all Carrie ,

the girl who grabs you and carries you away.

She’s a Cadillac , a Viaje , a voyage.

In Turkish a line is Otoban , highway,

la Veloce, Svelta ; uskoritel’, the accelerator,

, pure energy, Dynamite .

She loves B, explosive and sensual.

She’s Blast, Bomb, Boost ,

she’s Bonza, Bubbazza, Binge, Bouncing Powder ,

in Spanish you’ll Bailar till dawn.

And when you’re too paranoid to speak,

dial 256 on your cell—

it’s the same as BLO or Blow or snort.

She makes you feel good,

she’s Big Bloke, Big C, Big Flake, Big Rush .

She’ll make you feel like a god,

so Dios is what she’s called in Latin America,

but she’s also Diablo, Diablito too, Little Devil.

Devil’s Dandruff is cocaine powder,

while crack is Devil’s Drug , you smoke it

with the Devil’s Dick .

Regular coke can be Monster ,

Cat Piss, A Visit to the House of Horrors,

but that’s not what you’re looking for,

what you want is the exact opposite:

Paradise, Alas de Angel, Polvere di Stelle ,

Polvo Feliz, Polvo de Oro, Star-Spangled Powder ,

Heaven Dust or Haven Dust , an inhalable oasis of peace.

Happy Powder, Happy Dust, Happy Trail .

She’s a Dream , a Beam , a ray of light.

She’s Aire , she’ll make you feel so light.

She’s Breath, Soffio, Soplo ,

Or simply Sobre , with her you’re always on.

Call her Angie , your most angelic friend,

or Aunt Nora , your aunt who bakes cakes.

In Brazil she’s Gulosa ,

so sweet, those sweets kids go crazy for:

Icing on the top of a cake,

Jelly and Jam , those secret jars of marmalade,

Candy and Candy C, Bubble Gum, Double Bubble ,

— you can blow double with the best chewing gum—

Granita, Mandorlata, Cubaita, Dolcetto ,

California Cornflakes, Bernie’s Cornflakes , or Cereal .

Cornflakes, snow Flakes ,

Cocaine is always snow.

Snow

Sno

Schnee

CHez

Sne

Neige

Nieve

Wherever snow falls, coke is snow,

but you can also call it Florida Snow,

as miraculous as a Miami snowfall.

It’s —svezhij, fresh