 In 2008, Los Zetas made a deal with ex-Sinaloa cartel commanders, the Beltrán-Leyva brothers and since then, became rivals of their former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel.In early 2010 the Zetas made public their split from the Gulf Cartel and began a bloody war with Gulf Cartel over control of northeast Mexico's drug trade routes.This war has resulted in the deaths of thousands of cartel members and suspected members.