Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, R.I.P.

                                 photos courtesy of El Universal


"El Lazca", Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, the ruthless leader of Mexico's Los Zetas, has erected the final resting place that will house his remains in the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo.

The purpose of the empty mausoleum in the San Francisco cemetary is an open, but unspoken, secret among the residents of the colonia Tezontle, where Lazcano has also paid for the erection of a church, Nuestra Señora de los Lagos.

Although the exact location of Lazcano's birth in the state of Hidalgo is disputed, Tezontle is said to be his birthplace. Tezontle is one of the poorer, more forgotten neighborhoods of Pachuca.

Among the myths that surround Lazcano's life is that a reason for his desertion from the Army and entry into the original cadre of Los Zetas is that he was denied promotion past the rank of corporal, not for lack of merit but due to his humble origins.

Mausoleums are symbols of the excess that marks the narco lifestyle, at least for the higher tiers of drug traffickers with the resources to fund them. They are the final bookend to these men's lives.






Below are excerpts of a documentary that chronicles life in the universe of drug trafficker's burial grounds. "El Velador" (The Night Watchman)  is the work of the Mexican filmmaker Natalia Almada.