Piracy on Falcon Lake

United States Coast Guard sailors patrolling Falcon Lake, October 2010.

Date	2010 – present
Location	Falcon Lake, Rio Grande, Mexico, United States
Result	ongoing

Belligerents

Mexico

United States

Los Zetas

Casualties and losses

Mexico:
1 killed

12 killed

Civilian Casualties: 1 killed

Piracy on Falcon Lake refers to an increase in crime at the border between the United States and Mexico on Falcon Lake. The lake is a 60-mile (97 km) long reservoir constructed in 1954 and is a known drug smuggling route.

A between rival drug cartels for control of the lake began in March 2010 and has led to a series of armed robberies and shooting incidents. All of the attacks were credited to the Los Zetas cartel and occurred primarily on the Mexican side of the reservoir but within sight of the Texas coast. The so-called pirates operate "fleets" of small boats designed to seize fisherman and smuggle drugs.

While the events have been referred to colloquially as piracy, all the waters of Falcon Lake are considered either US or Mexican territorial waters and therefore are not technically piracy under Article 101 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

A turf war between the Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel began in early 2010 as part of the Mexican Drug War. The violence in and around Reynosa in March caused both civilians and Zeta cartel members to leave their homes and take refuge at Falcon Lake. Beginning in May 2010, the Zetas acquired several small skiffs, bass boats and Argos boats which they use to patrol their side of the lake for Gulf Cartel members, though they often commit other crimes such as the robbing of civilian vessels close to the shore.

Some reports suggest that the Zetas commandeered boats belonging to Mexican fisherman and forced their crews to commit crimes. On April 30, 2010, five Americans in two boats were fishing on Falcon Lake at the Old Guerrero church. While there, a boat with four "heavily tattooed" men boarded the boats, demanded money and drugs. Ultimately the pirates received $200 cash before the American boats made an escape. The pirates followed the fishing boats, but the Americans got away when they crossed into United States territory.

...
Wikipedia