2011 Monterrey casino attack
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On August 25, 2011, members of drug cartel
Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscri ...
set a casino on fire in
Monterrey, Nuevo León Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, killing 52 people. The arson attack left over a dozen injured, and over 35 trapped for several hours before the Mexican forces arrived at the place minutes after the incident. Media reports state the majority of those killed were women, including one who was pregnant. Although the government crackdown of the drug cartels dates back to 2006, Monterrey became an increasingly violent city in 2010, due to the rupture of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Surveillance footage shows vehicles with armed gunmen arriving at the entrance of Casino Royale. After the gunmen descended from their vehicles, they stormed the casino's main entrance, opened fire on guests, and doused the casino entrances with gasoline and started a fire that trapped people inside. The attack was classified as the most violent and bloodiest in the history of Monterrey and one of the worst in the state of Nuevo León.


Background

Grupo Royale is a chain of casinos and entertainment venues with branches in
Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
,
Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of ...
and Los Cabos, as well as a branch in Escobedo named "Fantastic Escobedo".Casino Royale ¿Quiénes somos?
The casino Royale San Jerónimo is at the junction of Calle Jesús María González and Avenida San Jerónimo,Casino Royale San Jerónimo Ubicación
and is owned by Mexican, also owners of Conexiones y Mangueras S.A. (Cymsa) and Entertainment Enterprises of México S.A. de C.V. It was opened in November 2007 to more than 500 people, to whom the casino gave a total of two million pesos as a welcoming gift.Periódico ''La Rocka''. Septiembre 2011. Primera quincena. No. 144, Año IX. Monterrey, N.L. The casino had been attacked on several previous occasions. On January 17, 2011 it was announced in the news media that the business had been the victim of organised crime, and that an armed squad had entered the premises to subdue those inside, although this was denied by their then legal representative, Enrique Hernández Navarro. In the early hours of May 25 of the same year, it was attacked by a group of delinquents who detonated firearms, taking money from customers and from the establishment, which was one of several casinos attacked that day. On May 4, 2011 the casino had been shut down by the
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
for failure to obtain permits for expanding the premises, reopening its doors on May 31 due to an appeal by its owners to the State Tribunal for Administrative Litigation, claiming that the works were for remodelling. This appeal was granted by magistrate José Alfonso Solís Navarro. Before this tragedy another betting center, owned by Grupo Royale, had been attacked twice during the year by organized crime, but with no casualties.


Attack

Minutes before 2:00 PM on 26 August 2011 in
Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
,
Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
, twelve members of the criminal group
Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscri ...
, along with one of its leaders, met at "El Gran Pastor" restaurant located on Gonzalitos avenue, just a few blocks away from the casino. The cartel members ate cabrito in a "special meeting," where they were given orders to carry out the attack at the Casino Royale. According to the perpetrators, the attack was intended to send a message to the owner of the casino for failing to pay an extortion. By 3:00 PM, the Zetas left the restaurant and headed to a
Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...
gas station in Valle Verde neighborhood to collect barrels of gasoline. Two separate surveillance videos issued by the governor confirmed that two pick-up trucks arrived at the gas station to fill up big containers of gasoline before setting off on Gonzalitos avenue. While driving through the avenue, the second video captured the moment when the convoy headed towards the site. The perpetrators arrived at the casino at approximately 3:50 PM in a convoy of four vehicles: a Mini Cooper, a Chevrolet Equinox, a blue GMC and a grey VW Beetle. In the first minute and a half, several armed men, about eight or nine, stormed the casino while some people inside managed to escape. The criminals then ordered the people inside to hurry their way out, but many of them were scared and decided to hide inside the casino. Witnesses claim that one of the gunmen struck the receptionist with his assault rifle before the other triggermen doused the gasoline inside the premise from the tanks they had bought at the gas station. The crowd of 150 croupiers and customers, mostly women, stampeded inside the casino from the game area to the bathrooms, stairways, and blocked emergency exits. Some of them reportedly heard gunfire and explosion that they thought were grenade detonations. Some people managed to leave through the main entrance, but after a few minutes this became impossible due to the fire spreading; several others were hurt in the stampede, as panic descended on the scene. All of the 52 victims died from suffocation due to
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
poisoning because they were hiding in bathrooms and offices after trying to escape from the aggressors. It was later confirmed that the emergency exits in the casino were locked. In only three minutes, the perpetrators burned the establishment and managed to flee the scene – only to be captured by the surveillance video. When the emergency crew finally decided to smash down the walls of the casino, they found the corpses littered in huge piles inside the bathrooms, stairs, and game tables. By the next morning, the Mexican authorities confirmed that 52 people had died, while dozens more were in the hospital.


Reactions

The company Atracciones y Emociones Vallarta S.A. de C.V., whose Administration Council consists of Rodrigo Madero Covarrubias, José Francisco Madero Dávila and Ramón Agustín Madero Dávila, denied any relationship with the Casino Royale, as they had previously separated from each other. City mayor
Fernando Larrazábal Bretón Fernando Larrazábal Bretón (born 11 August 1962) is a Mexican politician who was a member of the National Action Party (Mexico), National Action Party. He has served as mayor of San Nicolás and was a member of the LXXI Legislature of the Congre ...
and Juana María Treviño Torres, president of the Tribunal for Administrative Litigation, blamed each other for the tragedy: Larrazábal blamed the tribunal for permitting the casino to reopen, while Treviño Torres blamed Monterrey Civil Protection for not checking that it had emergency exits. Additionally, magistrate José Alfonso Solís Navarro (who authorized the reopening) resigned his position on August 27. A contingent of 3,000 soldiers and federal police were sent to the city, and the rest of the state was patrolled by armoured units and
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
helicopters for security reasons. Furthermore, the ex-mayor of Monterrey,
Adalberto Madero Adalberto Arturo Madero Quiroga (born 25 September 1969) is a Mexican lawyer and right-wing politician from Nuevo León who has served in the upper house of the Mexican Congress. He was the municipal president of Monterrey from 2006 to 2009. ...
, was detained by the
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
and federal forces for a supposed link to the administrative council of the company believed to manage the Casino Royale. President Felipe Calderón declared three days of national mourning. 26 relatives of the victimes demanded compensation for the event and for their hospital and funeral expenses to be paid, although the company (through its lawyer Juan Gómez Jaime) denied any responsibility due to the tragedy being out of the company's control. However, the government offered to pay their funeral and legal expenses, educational grants and medical and psychological bills. On November 7 two casinos belonging to the company were closed: the Montecarlo in
Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of ...
,
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...
and the Play Win Casino in Los Cabos,
Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...
; however, the company Entretenimiento de México has confirmed that is no longer a member. A few days after the attack, the narrative song "El Muerto 53" appeared anonymously in order to "reach the voice of the people".


Suspects

The attack was attributed to
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, with the two initially suspected groups being the Gulf Cartel and
Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscri ...
who both claimed control of the area. It was later confirmed to be the latter group. With the help of witness statements, portraits of the attackers were drawn. On August 26, three stolen cars were discovered and found to be those caught on camera as being used during the attack. The Attorney General offered 30 million pesos for information leading to the capture of the suspects. The governor of Nuevo León,
Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz (born September 9, 1972 Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) is Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as Governor of Nuevo León from 2009 to 2015. He was linked by ''Operation Tor ...
, reported that the first five individuals suspected of starting the casino fire were arrested on August 29. The five of them confessed to having participated in the crime which led to 52 deaths, but stated that they had not intended to kill anyone, only wanting to scare the owners of the building because they had refused to pay a weekly fee of 130,000 pesos (roughly
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
10,000 to $11,000, Aug 2011) to be allowed to operate. They had decided to attack, but the situation grew out of their control.Culpables del incendio del Casino Royale aseguran era un susto que se les salio de las manos
/ref> More gang members were later arrested.


Fugitives

On September 14 the Sub-Prosecutor for Regional Control of the Attorney General of Mexico, José Cuitláhuac Salinas Martínez, published a list of 18 people involved in the attack, including the identity and photographs of four Los Zetas leaders. Three of them were later captured, and the last one was shot dead on 4 April 2012.Confirman captura de “El Colitas”, presunto 'zeta' implicado en caso Royale
The remainder have only been identified by nicknames and sketch portraits: * El Monterrey * La Kitty or La Pelirroja ("The Redhead") * La Beba * El Chimpas and/or Chimpa and/or Chilpa * El Huevo ("The Egg") * El Tony


Captured


Sentenced

All of the arrested were detained until their sentencing. On September 27, the minor Alan Enrique was released from the Juvenile Centre as no evidence was found that he was responsible for any part of the attack, despite having been named as a participant by some of the other arrested individuals, although he was later re-arrested. On October 27, restriction orders were closed on 10 of the 14 who had then been arrested, and the
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
of
Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
ordered their arrests for homicide and organised criminal activity, having them moved to Topo Chico prison accompanied by a strong security team.


Victims

The majority of the victims were adults, people over the age of 50 and casino employees. Of the 52 people who died during the attack, ten were men and 42 women, including two pregnant women, one of whom was in her seventh month. 45 of the dead were identified (35 women and ten men) and the rest had to be tested in order to determine their identity as they had suffered severe burns.Identifican a 45 de las 52 víctimas de ataque a casino de MonterreyArchived copy
at WebCite (February 20, 2012).
All of them died from toxic fumes, although seven of the corpses were burned. Most of them were from Monterrey, but two were from
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
. With respect to the ten injured people, three of them were hospitalised in stable condition. The victims included Joaquín Martínez, uncle of Silvia Landeros, a well-known television presenter at Multimedios Television, as well as the sister-in-law of ex-footballer Alfredo «Alacrán» Jiménez, whose condition has not been reported.


Altar

Two months after the attack, family members of the 52 victims came to the scene of the accident to create a memorial with 53 white wooden crosses with the names of the victims, plus one with the word "baby" for the unborn child, as well as leaving a banner asking the president not to forget about the case, referring to the specialist reports allowing the federation to take charge: Around 50 of the victims' family members joined hands, prayed for the victims and asked for justice. Members of the public also left arrangements of flowers on the pavement outside the casino. And as of 2012, the families have asked the authorities to preserve the casino and keep it intact.


Discrepancies

Academics and intellectuals disagree strongly about whether or not the Monterrey casino attack was a "terrorist act", a term used by the President of the Republic during a press conference denouncing the killings. Academics define it as a "reprehensible criminal act" and not as an act of terrorism; terrorism has different characteristics, involving ideology and doctrine, such as in the case of
ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
or the 2011 attacks in Norway. The criminal acts of drug trafficking and organised crime are not strictly defined in Mexican law, and are usually a form of score-settling between criminal groups, unlike in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
where acts of narcoterrorism against the public have a legal definition.


Reactions


National

* The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, called the attacks an act of
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
and organised crime, and declared three days of
national mourning A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...
.


Cancelled events

* Juan Manuel González, president of the seventh International Festival of Cinema in Monterrey, cancelled the red carpet showing of the film ''Viento en contra'', produced and starred in by
Bárbara Mori Bárbara Mori Ochoa () (born 2 February 1978) is a Uruguayan-born Mexican actress, model, producer and writer. She is known for playing the main character in the 2004 telenovela '' Rubí,'' one of the most successful telenovelas of all time. Sin ...
. * The running of the bulls in the plaza Monumental Monterrey Lorenzo Garza which was celebrating its 74th year, as well as the tribute to ex-bullfighter
Eloy Cavazos Eloy Cavazos (born 25 August 1949 in Ciudad Guadalupe, Nuevo León, México) was a Mexicab matador. History He debuted in Plaza México on 12 July 1966, with Gonzalo Iturbe and Leonardo Manzanos. He took his alternativa in Plaza Monterrey, N ...
.


International

* United States' president
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
called the attack "brutal" and "reprehensible". * German chancellor Angela Merkel sent her condolences via press conference. * France condemned the acts as "barbarism which has brutally shaken Mexican society", through its spokesman Bernard Valero. * President of Costa Rica
Laura Chinchilla Laura Chinchilla Miranda (; born 28 March 1959) is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2010 to 2014. She was one of Óscar Arias Sánchez's two Vice-Presidents and his administration's Minister of Justice. She was the ...
called it a "cowardly terrorist act". * President of Panama
Ricardo Martinelli Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal (born March 11, 1951) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th President of Panama, president of Panama from 2009 to 2014. Early life Born in Panama City, Ricardo Martinelli is the son ...
invited Latin America to build a "united front" to combat organized crime.


Organizations

* Secretary-general of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
called it a "deplorable act of violence". *
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
demanded a detailed investigation of the facts, and declared their solidarity with the victims' families and the inhabitants of the region.


See also

* Mexican Drug War * 2011–2012 in the Mexican Drug War *
Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscri ...
*
2010 San Fernando massacre The 2010 San Fernando massacre, also known as the first massacre of San Fernando, was the mass murder of 72 undocumented immigrants by Los Zetas drug cartel in the village of El Huizachal in the municipality of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico. ...
*
2011 San Fernando massacre The 2011 San Fernando massacre, also known as the second massacre of San Fernando, was the mass murder of 193 people by Los Zetas drug cartel at La Joya ranch in the municipality of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico in March 2011. Authorities in ...
* 2011 Durango Massacres *
Apodaca prison riot The Apodaca prison riot occurred on 19 February 2012 at a prison in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Mexico City officials stated that at least 44 people were killed, with another twelve injured. The ''Blog del Narco'', a blog that documents even ...
*
Altamira prison brawl The Altamira prison brawl was a deadly fight that occurred on 4 January 2012 in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Officials from the state of Tamaulipas confirmed that 31 people were killed, with another thirteen injured. The fight started after a ...
* Coahuila mass graves * Nuevo León mass graves * Resorts World Manila attack, a similar fire attack in a casino in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
.


References


External links

*
La Tragedia de el Casino Royale
— '' CNNMéxico'' *
La violencia, problema estructural más allá de la estrategia de Calderón
— '' CNNMéxico'' (Video)
52 Died (reconstructed documentary)

www.eliseortiz.net
' (Website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Monterrey casino attack
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
2011 fires in North America Arson in Mexico History of Monterrey Mass murder in 2011 Battles of the Mexican drug war Murder in Mexico Organized crime events in Mexico Fires in Mexico 2011 murders in Mexico
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
21st century in Monterrey August 2011 crimes August 2011 events in Mexico Los Zetas Human stampedes in 2011 Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes 2001 disasters in Mexico