Los Zetas is a criminal organization made up of cell leaders, regional commanders and the small but disciplined central leadership that operates similar to that of a democracy rather than a dictatorship like the Gulf cartel, Sinaloa Cartel and Knights Templar. Unlike the other previously mentioned main cartels where the large centralized leadership have absolute control of the cells. The Los Zetas cells don't have to have the consent of the leadership to conduct their criminal activities giving them more flexibility but also they are more prone to renegade actions. The wage structure of Los Zetas is also different from all of the cartels in Mexico, the Los Zetas have a bottom-top structure. Meaning that profit made from the local cells are "kicked up" to the regional commanders and the leadership receive a tax from the profits of all of the cells not directly controlled by the leadership.

The Los Zetas have a 4 tier organization; the sector commander, plaza boss or cell leader, regional commander, and the command and control leadership. First off lets begin with the the lowest tier the sector commander or low ranking commander. The sector commander manages crews that specialize in one or two criminal activities or roles at time like retail drug sales, extortion, piracy, oil theft, kidnapping for ransom, communications and security etc. The profit made from those activities goes to the plaza boss which some of it is used to paid off and or infiltrate the local public officials and the local police and the rest to the regional commander which directly controls the local cells or plaza bosses. The plaza boss is the semi owner of the cell that operates in town he is the one that corrupts and controls the local police (to some extent) and public officials like mentioned above. Above the plaza boss is the regional commander which directly controls the local cells and the surrounding cells throughout states. He receives the profits made from the local cells; some of the money is used to buy state level protection for his plaza bosses and high level protection for himself and also weapons for the cells he directly controls. One example of these regional commanders is Taliban which his faction has splintered and is now fighting the faction controlled by Z-40. Taliban made 30 million dollars a month according to SEMAR or the Mexican Navy, from those 30 million he kept 30% for himself. In a year he was personally making 120 million dollars and his faction as a whole was making 360 million dollars per year. The factions controlled by Z-3 and Z-40 is the centralized leadership and the most influence on the organization which by default makes the leader and second in command of the organization. They manage Los Zetas operations on a international level from Guatemala to the United States some of these operations are incursions on enemy turf, drug trafficking and distribution into the U.S etc.