[Vedderman]

It occurred to me while making another post that the Nota Roja journos have invented an entire lexicon of words that did not exist in the Spanish language prior to the rise of Cartel violence at the end of the last century. These are not words that you will find in Spanish dictionaries or in most online translators, but if you are trawling the Mexican newspapers for good gore photos, you'll encounter them almost daily.

So I'm going to construct a little primer for the benefit/amusement of anyone interested. Feel free to expand your knowledge base by learning a few snippets of narco jargon or just enjoy the pics, most of which will be reposts but are included to provide clarity for the new words. The photos should match the ordered, numbered words provided.

Firstly, the ones we have to thank for much of these little gems. The Nota Roja reporters.

1. Nota Roja: Literally 'Red News', this term is used to describe the back section of most mainstream mexican newspapers. It will usually contain lurid images of drug violence, car accidents, suicide victims, etc. The Nota Roja beat is typically assigned to young interns and aspiring journalists as sort of a 'hazing' process. It usually involves getting rolled out of your bed at 3am to go take pictures of mutilated bodies hanging from school playgrounds and the like. Most reporters work the beat for 9-18 months before graduating or getting the fuck out of Mexican journalism altogether. Only the most hardcore make a long-term career out of Roja journalism. The included photo depicts a typical cover for the Roja section of a daily paper.

2.Levanton : To kidnap the friends/family of a rival drug-runner with the express purpose of torturing and murdering them. Victims of a levanton are not snatched to get information or for ransom or anything of that nature. They are taken only to suffer incredible pain and terror before dying. Often times the killings are video-taped for the benefit of the victims' families and the bodies are almost always left displayed in a public place. The photo featured for this word depicts the wife and two teenage children of a businessman who were taken 'levanton', tortured, suffocated, and then laid in the street to be found.

3. Fusilados Using the Spanish word for 'rifle as a base, this word has a dual-meaning. It can refer to Narco-related firing squad style execution where the victims are placed in a line and shot down or it can be used to refer to the traditional 'tiro de gracia' (coup de gras), which is a single shot to the head. Photos of both applications are included here: the first features a whole row of unfortunates who were executed while wearing their pajamas and underpants while the second features a young dancer who was taken to the woods and given a single headshot.

4. Encajuelado: Alternately, 'encajuelada' for women. This is a word that specifically refers to a dead body left in the trunk or the back of a car. It is one of the most frequent methods of body disposal in narco hits. We don't have a similar word in the English language. The photo depicts a young woman who was suffocated with a plastic bag and left 'encajuelada' in an SUV as a warning to her affiliated boyfriend.

5. Narcomensaje A viewer favorite around here, this word refers to the hand-scrawled warning signs that often accompany bodies of hit victims. The signs are typically brightly colored and often include misspellings, rambling monologues, and funny little pictures all intended to serve as a warning to policia or rivals. The signs are frequently anchored to the spot with human limbs or the personal possessions of the deceased. If the sign is actually hung up above the bodies in the style of a banner, it is instead referred to as a narcomanta. Examples of both are included.

There endeth today's lesson. Like I said, unless you are spending a lot of time searching Mexican newspapers, it is unlikely you will encounter these words very often. But they do provide a rather unique glimpse into the etymology of the language and culture of violence.

[Bastet]

Yay, narco slang with illustrative pics Used to be an intern in a local newspaper for one year and between reporting all the soft'n'sweet family happenings in the area, a good dose of Nota Rojas would have been a breath of fresh air

[Faline]

Interesting to learn

[collaredgirl65]

[gatagato]

Lol @ busilados: in my dialect, it means the same thing.
Busiladu = one man killed by gunshot/s
Busilados = two or more men killed by gunshot/s

And i live 10.000 kilometers far from there, never been in mexico.

[Bronte1068]

Great to know these! Thanks!

[khathryn]

Now we know... and knowing is half the battle!

[Rusty666]

[Dynamo47]

Thanks for posting. That was cool to see the slang for the cartels and some pretty good photos that went along with it.

[LAUGHLAUGH]

QUE HUEVOS CABRON...PURA PSICO LOCO