Drug trafficking

Mexican security forces raid Los Piñas cartel's Monterrico Ranch where rivals were 'tortured and FED to gators and lions' - as agents also seize five deer, an ostrich, a peacock and two pigs

Mexican security forces in the gulf state of Veracruz last week raided a remote ranch where the country's most powerful cartel allegedly planned its operations and tortured and fed its rivals to alligators and lions.

The shocking discovery of the ranch - which seemed to take a page out of Pablo Escobar's book - is located 130 miles from the port of Veracruz.  

Military agents and police officers were met by two lions, five deers, an ostrich, a peacock, two pigs and alligators swimming in a lake in the zoo-like atmosphere inside Monterrico Ranch.

The property, authorities say, is registered to Jacinto and Alberto Rodríguez, siblings who command Los Piñas Cartel, which reportedly has strong ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The cartel is led by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera, who is wanted by the Drug Enforcement Agency in the U.S., which is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture. 

Surveillance video showed the moment servicemen swooped in the compound, that according to officials on the ground, has 20 air conditioned rooms, one which was inhabited by children.