Justice Department attorneys unveiled charges last week against two suspected leaders of Los Zetas, with the Mexican nationals accused of conspiracy to murder and to distribute drugs.
Miguel Trevino Morales and Omar Trevino Morales, known as Z-40 and Z-42, were promoted to the “highest level of leadership” in Los Zetas, a cartel composed of former Mexican military leaders who broke away from the Gulf Cartel. They have led Los Zetas for over a decade.
The two brothers allegedly renamed the organization to Cartel del Noreste after their arrests in Mexico and continued to direct the trafficking of cocaine and marijuana, which allegedly occurred alongside “murders, assaults, kidnappings, assassinations, and acts of torture.”
Matthew Galeotti, who leads the Justice Department Criminal Division, said in a statement that “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 official added that “we will aggressively pursue and bring to justice in the United States violent transnational criminals and leaders of cartels and hold them accountable.”
Both are charged with one count of continuing a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, use of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking, and international money laundering conspiracy, among other crimes related to their drug trafficking business.
The release from the Justice Department noted that the brothers were previously subject to longstanding extradition requests “that were not honored during the prior administration.”
The extradition of the two brothers, who could face life imprisonment or the death penalty, was part of a nationwide operation to marshal “the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
Cartel del Noreste was designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization and as specially designated global terrorists last month alongside Tren de Aragua and MS-13.
