Source: Young Zeta foot soldiers hunted in Reynosa

Authorities were out in force patrolling the streets of Reynosa after a string of attacks allegedly carried out by Zetitas — young Zeta foot soldiers — that caused panic among its residents. 

Details were not readily available, but authorities and a group of gunmen clashed Sunday morning in the Anzalduas residential area. Tamaulipas state authorities said the brief clash left no one injured or dead.

Those patrolling the streets included Mexican Federal Police, the Mexican Army, the Mexican Navy, Tamaulipas State Police and Reynosa Municipal Police, said a Mexican law enforcement official. And two military helicopters took to the skies to aid in the manhunt after a string of grenade attacks in recent days.

Law enforcement officials said that on Saturday, a group of men threw a grenade along Calle Benito Juarez near a municipal police substation, and another one along Boulevard Hidalgo near the Broncos Bridge. The attack left nine injured. Later that day, a firefight reported along Calle Margarita Maza de Juarez left initially one dead and one injured. That evening the death toll rose to two.

A grenade attack Thursday at a bus stop near Reynosa’s LG plant injured 10 civilians. And one injury was reported in another similar attack last week at a Reynosa Police building near Calle Morelos.

A Mexican source with firsthand knowledge of criminal activity in Tamaulipas said that the attacks were carried out by a group of Zetitas — young Zeta foot soldiers who typically range between the ages of 14 and 20. The source said they were sent to Reynosa to cause panic and rile authorities, thereby hampering the rival Gulf Cartel.

Working separately from Mexican authorities, the Gulf Cartel also has deployed gunmen to hunt for the Zetitas, the source said, adding that some of them already had been taken care of Thursday.