Social network commenter beheaded by Mexican drug cartel

September 26, 2011 By Andrew Couts

A comment left on a small social network in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, has resulted in the hideous death of its author at the hands of a merciless drug cartel.

If you think the worst thing that can happen by leaving comments on websites is getting caught in a flame war, think again. This weekend, police in Mexico found the headless body of a woman who, according to a note left with her decapitated body, was killed for leaving comments on a local social networking site about a drug cartel, reports the Associated Press. This marks the third time this month that people were killed in the embattled region for things they said online.

The victim, Marisol Macias Castaneda, is said to have worked as a newsroom manager for the Pimera Hora newspaper, which covered the border town of Nuevo Laredo, located just across the US-Mexico border from Laredo, Texas, and about 160 miles Southwest of San Antonio.

The comment that seems to have led to Castaneda’s gruesome demise was posted to the local Nuevo Laredo social network called “Nuevo Laredo en Vivo,” or Nuevo Laredo Live. According to the AP, the site regularly features tip hotlines to the Mexican army, navy and police, and “includes a section for reporting the location of drug gang lookouts and drug sales points.”

The damning comment, posted under a handle, read:

“Nuevo Laredo en Vivo and social networking sites, I’m The Laredo Girl, and I’m here because of my reports, and yours,” the message read. “For those who don’t want to believe, this happened to me because of my actions, for believing in the army and the navy. Thank you for your attention, respectfully, Laredo Girl…ZZZZ.”

The “Z” in the message refers to the vicious Zetas drug cartel, which is said to rule the Nuevo Laredo area with a bloody fist.

Castaneda’s body was found near the side of the road, with her head placed on a nearby rock. The note, left by the killers, referred to Castaneda’s nicknames on the site, which were “La Nena de Laredo,” or “Laredo Girl.”

Officials remain unsure how those who killed Castaneda discovered her real identity.

[Image via Frontpage/Shutterstock]

Showing 6 comments

Malcolm Kyle at 2:18am 28th September 2011 Prohibition does nothing but bankroll ruthless criminals and international terrorists.Alcohol prohibition (1919-1933) is a casebook example of such dangerous folly. Today, alcohol is taxed and regulated; shoot-outs over turf and the killing of innocent bystanders are no longer a daily part of the alcohol trade. So how come so many of us lack the ability to learn from such an important historical lesson, and are instead intent on perpetuating the madness and misery that prohibition has always invariably engendered?Colombia, Peru, Mexico or Afghanistan with their coca leaves, marijuana buds or poppy sap are not igniting temptation in the minds of our weak, innocent citizens. These countries are duly responding to the enormous demand that comes from within our own borders. Invading or destroying these countries, thus creating more hate, violence, instability, injustice and corruption, will not fix our problem. We need to collectively admit that we are sick. -- Prohibition is neither a sane nor a safe approach; left unabated, its puritanical flames will surely engulf every last one of us!Every-time the ghastly violence of prohibition is falsely blamed on the users, it diminishes the culpability of those who are truly responsible for maintaining the status quo. Prohibition is an absolute scourge -the end! The use of drugs is NOT the real problem, the system that grants exclusive distribution rights to violent cartels and terrorists IS.When governments prohibit drugs they effectively and knowingly hand a monopoly on their sale to dangerous criminals and terrorists. Without a legal framework in which to operate, these black-market entities can always be expected to settle their disputes violently, while terrorizing many peaceful and innocent citizens in the process. Were the users of alcohol to blame for the St Valentines massacre in 1929? Of course not! It is just as naive to assume that one can compel all the users of Marijuana or Cocaine to simply quit, as it is to assume that all the users of Alcohol should have stopped drinking after the introduction of alcohol prohibition in 1919.
Adam Hughes at 7:53pm 26th September 2011 Uncalled for Nima.
Andrew McCoy at 6:30pm 26th September 2011 Wow. The internet is serious business.
Nima Soleimany at 6:18pm 26th September 2011 or there heads cut off..
Nima Soleimany at 6:17pm 26th September 2011 snitches get stiches
Raghvendra Singh at 6:11pm 26th September 2011 wtf