Sergio Enrique Ruiz-Tlapanco

Last updated
Sergio Enrique Ruiz Tlapanco
Born8 October 1972
Other namesZ-44, El Tlapa
Employers
Criminal charge Drug trafficking, money laundering, assault
Capture status
Incarcerated

Sergio Enrique Ruiz Tlapanco (born 8 October 1972) is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Contents

Early life and career

Sergio Enrique Ruiz Tlapanco was born on 8 October 1972 in Mexico. [1] He joined the Mexican Army on 6 March 1988. While serving in the military, he was assigned as an officer of the Federal Judicial Police (PJF) from 1997 to 1999. He was based in Coahuila and had a C rank as an agent. On 16 November 1999, he requested his release from the military. [2]

Arrest

He was captured on September 9, 2009. [3] The government of Mexico had listed Ruiz Tlapanco as one of its 37 most-wanted drug lords and offered the equivalent of over $1 million USD for information leading to his capture. [4]

Kingpin Act sanction

On 24 March 2010, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Ruiz-Tlapanco under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act"), for his involvement in drug trafficking along with fifty-three other international criminals and ten foreign entities. [5] The act prohibited U.S. citizens and companies from doing any kind of business activity with him, and virtually froze all his assets in the U.S. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva was a Mexican drug lord who, alongside his brothers, founded and led the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. Prior to founding his own organization, Beltran-Leyva was a longtime high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. His organization was responsible for cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine production, transportation and wholesaling. It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors into the United States and was responsible for human trafficking, money laundering, extortion, kidnapping, murder, contract killing, torture, gun-running and other acts of violence against men, women, and children in Mexico. The organization was connected with the assassinations of numerous Mexican law enforcement officials.

Óscar Omar Treviño Morales is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of Los Zetas, a criminal organization. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. His brother is Miguel Treviño Morales, a former leader of the group. The authorities believe he was the successor of his brother, who was arrested on July 15, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaime González Durán</span>

Jaime González Durán is a Mexican former drug lord who was one of the 14 original founding members and third-in-command of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. A former Mexican Army elite soldier of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), he was trained in counter-insurgency and locating and apprehending drug cartel members. At the age of 20, he joined the Armed Forces, on 15 November 1991, being accepted into the Army and Air Force with the military registration B-8987689 processed in Salinas Victoria, Nuevo León. He received specialized training by US forces and the Israeli Defense Force, integrating the Special Forces Airborne Group (GAFE), with the specialty of location, combat and apprehension of members of drug trafficking groups, but at seven years, four months and nine days of service defected as a specialized soldier, on 24 February 1999. After Osiel's arrest, González controlled a large-scale illegal drug distribution and transfer to the United States, mostly of cocaine and marijuana. He also controlled much of the illegal drug trade in the Mexican states of Nuevo León, Michoacán, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Mexico City. The Attorney General has cataloged him as one of the most dangerous and violent of organized crime members, and one of the most wanted by Mexican and U.S. justice.

Héctor Manuel Beltrán Leyva was a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, a drug-trafficking organization. He was the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva (deceased), former leader of the cartel. Héctor was the second-in-command and rose to the leadership of the criminal organization after his brother's death on 16 December 2009 during a confrontation with Mexican marines.

Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán, a.k.a. El Grande,, is a Mexican former federal police officer who then worked as a lieutenant for Arturo Beltrán Leyva of the criminal organization called the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. He got his name El Grande because he is 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall.

Dionisio Loya Plancarte is a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a quasi-religious criminal organization based in the state of Michoacán. He is the uncle of Enrique Plancarte Solís, another former high-ranking leader of the cartel. Since 2009, he was listed as one of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords, with a $30 million pesos bounty for information leading to his capture. He was arrested by the Mexican Army in Morelia, Michoacán on 27 January 2014.

José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, commonly referred to by his alias El Chango, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the now disbanded La Familia drug cartel, headquartered in the state of Michoacán.

Arnoldo Rueda Medina is a former Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of La Familia Michoacana, a drug trafficking organization which is based in Michoacán, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar</span>

Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar is a former leader of the Mexican criminal organization known as Los Zetas. He was wanted by the governments of Mexico and USA until his capture on July 4, 2011 in Atizapán de Zaragoza, a Mexico City suburb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Rosales Mendoza</span>

Carlos Alberto Rosales Mendoza was a former Mexican drug lord who founded and led an organized crime syndicate called La Familia Michoacana. He was a close friend and associate of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel.

Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa is a Mexican illegal drug trafficker of the Los Zetas, when Los Zetas were the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel.

Flavio Méndez Santiago is a Mexican drug lord of Los Zetas.

Raúl Lucio Hernández Lechuga, alias El Lucky and Z-16, is a Mexican former drug lord and he had been in the army from 1996 to 1997 and later was one of the founders of the group Los Zetas. The government of Mexico had listed Hernández Lechuga as one of its 37 most wanted drug lords and offered the equivalent of over $2 million USD for information leading to his capture.

Sigifredo Nájera Talamantes, commonly referred to by his alias El Canicón, was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of Los Zetas.

Sergio Peña Solís is a Mexican suspected drug lord and a former leader in the criminal group Los Zetas, then the armed side of the Gulf Cartel. He was apprehended in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on 14 March 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabor Vargas García</span>

Nabor Vargas García is a Mexican suspected drug lord and one of the founders of Los Zetas, a criminal group formed by former soldiers of the Mexican Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustavo González Castro</span>

Gustavo González Castro, commonly referred to by his alias "El Erótico", is a suspected Mexican drug lord and founding member of Los Zetas, a criminal organization originally formed by ex-commandos from the Mexican Armed Forces. He joined the Mexican Army as an infantry soldier in 1990, and ascended to the corporal unit five years later. By 1999, however, González Castro had resigned and began working for the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas along with several former military men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurelio Cano Flores</span>

Aurelio Cano Flores, commonly referred to by his aliases Yankee and/or Yeyo, is an imprisoned Mexican drug trafficker and former high-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking organization. He is also a former member of the Federal Judicial Police in Tamaulipas.

Rogelio González Pizaña, commonly referred to by his alias Z-2 and/or El Kelín, was a Mexican former drug lord and one of the founders of Los Zetas, a criminal organization originally formed by ex-commandos from the Mexican Armed Forces. Unlike the rest of the founders of Los Zetas, however, he did not serve in the Mexican Armed Forces before joining the drug trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galindo Mellado Cruz</span>

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.

References

  1. "Additional Designations, Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act". United States Department of the Treasury. March 30, 2010.
  2. Hernández Cruz, Daniel (2009). "Detienen a fundador de los Zetas en San Manuel". La Quinta Columna (in Spanish).
  3. Blancas, Daniel (9 September 2009). "Emplean tanquetas para detener a Sergio Ruiz, El Tlapa, fundador de Los Zetas y autor de atentado a general en Tabasco". La Crónica de Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  4. Univision. México ofrece millonarias recompensas por 37 líderes del narco. English title: Mexico offers rewards in the millions for 37 drug lords. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  5. "DESIGNATIONS PURSUANT TO THE FOREIGN NARCOTICS KINGPIN DESIGNATION ACT" (PDF). United States Department of the Treasury. 15 May 2014. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  6. "An overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act" (PDF). United States Department of the Treasury. 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.