Tomás Jesús Yarrington Ruvalcaba is a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He held office as the Mayor of Matamoros from 1993 to 1995, and the Governor of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005. Yarrington sought nomination for the presidential elections for the PRI in 2005.
Los Zetas is a Mexican criminal syndicate, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscriminate murder. While primarily concerned with drug trafficking, the organization also runs profitable sex and gun rackets. Los Zetas also operate through protection rackets, assassinations, extortion, kidnappings and other illegal activities. The organization is based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, directly across the border from Laredo, Texas. The origins of Los Zetas date back to the late 1990s, when commandos of the Mexican Army deserted their ranks and began working as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel. In February 2010, Los Zetas broke away and formed their own criminal organization, rivalling the Gulf Cartel.
The Gulf Cartel is a criminal syndicate and drug trafficking organization in Mexico, and perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in the country. It is currently based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, directly across the U.S. border from Brownsville, Texas.
Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez is a former Mexican drug lord and top leader of the criminal drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. He was among Mexico's most-wanted drug lords, until his arrest in 2012.
Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, commonly referred to by his alias Z-40, is a Mexican former drug lord and leader of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. Considered a violent, resentful and dangerous criminal, he was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords until his arrest in July 2013.
Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, commonly referred to by his alias Tony Tormenta, was a Mexican drug lord and co-leader of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in Tamaulipas. He headed the criminal group along with Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez. Antonio was considered by Mexican security forces as one of Mexico's most-wanted men.
Mario Alberto Cárdenas Guillén is a former leader of the Mexican criminal group called the Gulf Cartel. He is the brother of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén and Antonio Cárdenas Guillén.
Samuel Flores Borrego was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel. He was a former state judicial policeman who protected the ex-leader of the Gulf cartel, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. Upon his arrest, Flores Borrego became the right-hand man of Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, the former leader of the criminal organization.
Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño, commonly referred to by his aliases El Pelón and/or X-20, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization.
The infighting in the Gulf Cartel refers to a series of confrontations between the Metros and the Rojos, two factions within Gulf Cartel that engaged in a power struggle directly after the death of the drug lord Samuel Flores Borrego in September 2011. The infighting has lasted through 2013, although the Metros have gained the advantage and regained control of the major cities controlled by the cartel when it was essentially one organization.
Los Metros is a faction of a Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. The group was formed in the late 1980s during the reign of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the cartel, to provide security to the organization's leaders as the cartel's armed wing. The leader of Los Metros, Mario Ramirez Treviño, alias X-20, was arrested on 17 August 2013.
Héctor David Delgado Santiago, commonly referred to by his alias El Metro 4, was a suspected Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. Born and raised in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, El Metro 4 initiated his criminal career by working with Los Metros, an enforcer gang of the Gulf Cartel.
Miguel Villarreal was a U.S.-born Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. He was the crime boss of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Nicknamed El Gringo in reference to his U.S. nationality, Villarreal was identified by authorities as a Gulf Cartel leader in 2010, when he allegedly commanded cells that fought Los Zetas drug cartel in northeastern Mexico. By 2011, he served as the regional kingpin in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas and ordered several kidnappings and killings in the South Texas border area from Mexico.
Homero Enrique Cárdenas Guillén, also known by his aliases El Majadero and El Orejón, was a Mexican suspected drug lord and alleged leader of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He is the brother of the former Gulf Cartel leaders Antonio, Mario, and Osiel Cárdenas Guillen. During the late 1990s, Homero worked for the Gulf Cartel under the tutelage of his brothers. However, after several years of government crackdowns, the Gulf Cartel suffered severe drawbacks, including the death and arrests of Homero's brothers and allies. In August 2013, Homero became the de facto leader of the Gulf Cartel following the arrest of Mario Ramírez Treviño. However, he reportedly died of a heart attack on 28 March 2014.
Galdino or Galindo Mellado Cruz, commonly referred to by his alias El Mellado and/or Z-9, was a Mexican suspected drug lord and one of the founders of Los Zetas, a criminal organization originally formed by ex-commandos from the Mexican Armed Forces. He joined the Mexican Army in 1992 and was part of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), an elite special forces unit of the Army. In 1999, he withdrew from the military and was recruited by the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization, shortly thereafter.
Joselyn Alejandra Niño, commonly referred to by her alias La Flaca, was a Mexican suspected assassin of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. She gained popularity on social media on 5 January 2015, when an anonymous person uploaded a picture of her posing with a firearm in an organized crime leak page. The post identified her as a Gulf Cartel member based out of Río Bravo. As a foot soldier, she was responsible for fighting off cells of Los Metros, a rival faction of Los Ciclones, a Gulf Cartel subgroup she belonged to.
Zeferino Peña Cuéllar, also known as Don Zefe, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was part of the cartel during the 1990s, and was a trusted enforcer of former kingpins Gilberto García Mena and Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the municipal police chief of Miguel Alemán. Peña Cuéllar reportedly relied on corrupt Mexican military officials to run drug trafficking activities in Tamaulipas. This group of military officers would later become the foundation for the creation of Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's former paramilitary group originally made up of ex-soldiers. In the cartel, he headed organized crime operations in the municipalities of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Camargo, Miguel Alemán, Mier, and Guerrero.
Gilberto Lerma Plata is a Mexican former police chief and convicted drug lord. He began his career in 1993 as a police officer in the Tamaulipas State Police when his cousin Manuel Cavazos Lerma became Governor of Tamaulipas. Lerma Plata was eventually promoted to police commander in Reynosa and Miguel Alemán. In the late 1990s, while still working for the police, Lerma Plata joined the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, for whom he facilitated drug trafficking operations from Mexico to the US, coordinated cash smuggling operations, and aided in the procurement of firearms.
Ediel López Falcón, also known as La Muela or Metro 5, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was the regional boss of Miguel Alemán and helped coordinate international drug trafficking shipments from South and Central America to Mexico and the U.S. His roles in the cartel were also to coordinate oil theft operations. In 2012, he was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for drug trafficking activities. After fleeing Mexico to avoid gang-related violence, López Falcón was arrested in Texas during a sting operation in 2013. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2015. He is currently imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix in New Jersey. His expected release date is in 2029.
Eleno Salazar Flores, also known as "Pantera 6", is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was a trusted enforcer of former kingpin Mario Ramírez Treviño, who appointed him the regional boss of Camargo. He helped to coordinate cocaine and marijuana shipments heading to Reynosa and Río Bravo before they were smuggled into the U.S. for further distribution. In 2014, he was arrested by federal forces in Reynosa and imprisoned in a maximum-security facility in the State of Mexico. Salazar Flores was convicted of drug trafficking in 2017 and sentenced to 20 years. He was also ordered to pay 500 days of the minimum wage in fines, totaling MXN$33,645.
