Mexican drug cartel paints seven people in the colors of Marvel’s Avengers and forces them to parade n@ked through a street

Mexican drug cartel paints seven people in the colors of Marvel’s Avengers and forces them to parade n@ked through a street

Members of the Northeast Cartel painted six men and one woman in body paint

The victims were forced to walk down a street in Nuevo Laredo, a city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas

The Northeast Cartel splintered from Los Zetas after its leader was arrested

No arrests have been reported over the incident 

Images posted to social media on Tuesday show seven naked people covered in body paint depicting the Avengers being paraded up a street in the Mexcan city of Nuevo Laredo, reportedly on the orders of a drug cartel.

The photographs, which went viral, reveal six men and a woman standing and lying on the ground in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

According to news outlet Radio Formula, the Northeast Cartel shamed the victims by stripping them naked and covering their bodies from head to toe in paint.

They then forced the group to walk down Guerrero Avenue near the historic city center.

Members of the Northeast Cartel reportedly stripped seven people naked and covered their bodies in paint which resembled Marvel charactersA male victim (left), wearing a red similar to Iron Man, walks alongside a woman (right), depicting Captain MarvelThe criminal organization painted a man in the colors of Spider-Man

Victims were made to look like Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain Marvel.

Three of the victims resembled Black Panther, according to news outlet Vanguardia. 

In one of the pictures, several residents are spotted in the background as a male and a female cover their faces.

Another image showed the moment five men and a woman leaned against the gate of a closed business while another man covers his face and genitals.

The images also revealed a man with bruises to his buttocks. 

One of the victims was covered in body paint that depicted him to be the Black PantherAuthorities have yet to reveal the motive behind the cartel's decision to strip naked seven people and parade them through the streets of Nuevo LaredoA man struggles to stand on his feet after he was forced by a Mexican cartel to walk around Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, which his body covered in paint

Authorities have not revealed the motive behind the cartel's decision. No arrests have been  announced. 

However, the group has used similar tactics before.

In February, a man was abandoned in the street with a message painted over his back as a warning to a rival criminal organization. 

The Northeast Cartel became a force in 2014 after it splintered off from Los Zetas following the arrest of the gang's leader, Omar Treviño Morales, also known as Z-42.

The group has been engaged in several turf wars against rival factions that also spun off from Los Zetas, and has also waged war on the Sinaloa Cartel, once headed by Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's.

The Northeast Cartel operates mainly out of Nuevo Laredo but also maintains its presence in the states of Veracruz, Monterrey and Zacatecas.