Two of Mexico's most notorious former cartel leaders were arraigned in Washington DC on Friday on a range of federal charges that include drug trafficking, firearm possession and money laundering. Because the charges include engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise involving "multiple murder conspiracies," they face the possibility of federal executions.
Brothers Miguel Trevino Morales and Omar Trevino Morales -- ages 52 and 48, respectively -- are the former leaders of the Los Zetas cartel that once dominated Mexico's northern region along the US frontier. Also known by aliases "Z-40" and "Z-42," they allegedly led the cartel in succession from October 2012 until March 2015. Miguel's term ended with his arrest by Mexican police in 2013, when Omar took over until he was similarly nabbed in 2015. Since that time, Los Zetas has faded relative to the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.
"The defendants represent some of the world’s most vicious cartel leaders, who oversaw Los Zetas’ reign of terror with grotesque impunity and ruthlessness, and a sheer disregard for anything beyond their wealth, power and control,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso of New York's ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
The Morales brothers are among 29 cartel drug lords extradited to the United States by Mexico in February. "The defendants taken into US custody today include leaders and managers of drug cartels recently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists," the DOJ said at the time.
“The Criminal Division is dedicated to achieving the Attorney General’s goal of the total elimination of cartels,” said Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti. “As alleged, former Zetas cartel leaders Z-40 and Z-42 engaged in conspiracies to kill members of the Mexican government, Mexican citizens, members of rival cartels, members of the Guatemalan government, and Guatemalan drug traffickers."
The Zetas were founded by deserters from Mexico's elite special forces, and had a reputation for fearsome brutality, to include decapitations and hanging corpses from highway overpasses. They were also blamed for killing 52 people via an arson attack on a Monterrey casino, and torturing and murdering 72 Central American migrants who resisted the Zeta's demands that they become drug mules.
The US government's request for the duo's extradition predates the current Trump administration. Their February transfer came after the State Department announced it had designated eight Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. That move prompted Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to warn the White House against taking unilateral military action inside her country.
Earlier, Sheinbaum said she had approved US surveillance drone flights over Mexico. That claim came after CNN reported that the administration tapped the CIA to use unarmed MQ-9 drones to monitor the cartels. The secret missions were communicated to members of Congress, with the description of the undertaking making no mention of a partnership with the Mexican government.
