Saturday morning a group of 20 Zeta commandos arrived in 10 vehicles and freed 53 prisoners in Zacatecas in a 5 minute operation. The prisoners had been jailed for drug trafficking, homicide, kidnappings, extortion, possession of military weapons, among other crimes.

The 40 guards and 2 police commanders on duty at the prison that morning have been arrested and are being held for questioning, due to suspicions that this operation was undertaken with inside help.

"It is clear to us that this was a perfectly planned operation that counted on inside help, since the action only lasted 5 minutes and not a single shot was fired," said Zacatecas Governor Amelia García, "My decision is that a complete investigation be taken place of all that needs to be investigated, and we will not permit this to go unpunished."

The prisoners and the group that freed them are currently being hunted by the state government, with the help of law enforcement from neighboring states and the Mexican Army, which is using recently acquired Black Hawk helicopters in the operation.

The Zetas are the military arm of the Gulf Cartel which is exceedingly well armed and consists of many members with special forces training. According to the DEA's 2008 National Drug Threat Assessment, "Los Zetas, the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel, may be the most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and violent of these paramilitary enforcement groups. Some Los Zetas members are former Mexican Special Forces soldiers and maintain expertise in the use of heavy weaponry, specialized military tactics, sophisticated communications equipment, intelligence collection, and countersurveillance techniques."