Capture of Zetas leader may bring more violence
Zetas leader captured: The arrest of drug kingpin Miguel Angel Trevi帽o Morales could open the door to internal power struggles and challenges from other cartels.
Zetas leader captured: The arrest of drug kingpin Miguel Angel Trevi帽o Morales could open the door to internal power struggles and challenges from other cartels.
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On Monday, Mexican authorities captured Miguel Angel Trevi帽o Morales, leader of the Zetas drug cartel, striking a major blow against the country's most notorious cartel. But experts say that the surprisingly bloodless capture of the man known as Z-40 will likely open the door to new violence in Mexico, as the cartel's factions and rivals fight for control of Zetas turf.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Mr. Trevi帽o Morales was captured near Nuevo Laredo around 3:45 a.m. on Monday morning after being pursued by Mexican authorities. No shots were fired during the pursuit, which ended with Trevi帽o Morales, his bodyguard, and his treasurer in custody. Eduardo Sanchez Hernandez, spokesman for Mexico鈥檚 interior secretary, said that authorities found $2 million, nine weapons, and 500 rounds of ammunition in their vehicle.
The Morning News adds that according to authorities, Trevi帽o Morales had been visiting his newborn child in Nuevo Laredo.
Former FBI agent Arturo Fontes told the Morning News that he was surprised that Trevi帽o Morales had been captured alive. 鈥淗e had told his closest associates he鈥檇 rather be captured dead than alive,鈥 he said. But Mr. Fontes added that 鈥淭his is a huge hit for the new government.鈥
鈥淗istory will show that Chapo Guzman [Joaquin 鈥淐hapo鈥 Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa cartel] was the bigger narco, but 鈥40鈥 was the villain, the enforcer and game changer, the one who changed the landscape for Mexico, introducing unimaginable violence to the country,鈥 he said.
The Associated Press reports that Trevi帽o Morales "is uniformly described as one of the two most powerful cartel heads in Mexico, the leader of a corps of special forces defectors who went to work for drug traffickers, splintered off into their own cartel in 2010 and metastasized across Mexico, expanding from drug dealing into extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking."
But while his capture "is the most important since Enrique Pe帽a Nieto became president in December 2012," writes InSight Crime, a news organization focused on Latin American crime, it "may have the opposite effect than what most expect."
The Zetas have experienced some fracturing in recent years, particularly in October 2012 with the death of the group's top man and Trevi帽o Morales' primary rival, Heriberto Lazcano. Trevi帽o Morales had been able to hold the organization together, InSight writes, "but his capture will reopen the possibilities for his internal rivals to go after the top spot."
Further, Trevi帽o Morales' capture raises the threat of new turf wars between the Zetas and their main competitors, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel. The Zetas started their existence as the paramilitary enforcers of the Gulf Cartel before breaking away and becoming an independent criminal organization, and have fought several major battles with their rival cartels.
InSight notes that in particular, Nuevo Laredo, "the Zetas' most coveted prize" and a major conduit in the Mexico-US drug trade, "has been in dispute of late" -- and could see more violence if the Sinaloa and the Gulf Cartels now regard the city as up for grabs.