Zetas Founding Member 'Don Zefe' Killed; He Also Resided in US & Canada

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Zeferino Pena Cuellar, alias Don Zefe or El Zefe, key figure in the creation of Los Zetas, was killed this week in Nuevo Leon

Nuevo León state authorities confirmed that Zeferino Peña Cuéllar, commonly known by his alias "Don Zefe," was killed in a shootout with police officers at his estate in Santiago, Nuevo León. Don Zefe was affiliated with the Gulf Cartel during the 1990s and early 2000s and is often cited as one of the founding members of the core group that later evolved into Los Zetas under the leadership of kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. However, Don Zefe largely avoided law enforcement scrutiny and media coverage over the years up until his death and was believed to have retired for several years.

The incident occurred early in the afternoon on Tuesday, December 23, when the State Investigative Agency (AEI) reported the presence of armed men near an estate in Santiago. Upon arriving at the scene, authorities came under gunfire, resulting in a shootout.

Two men were killed during the exchange, and local media quickly reported that one of them was Don Zefe. The other victim was David Calderón, a former military officer. Investigators later confirmed that Don Zefe was suspected of managing drug trafficking operations in Nuevo Leon, reportedly under a new criminal organization he was attempting to establish in the area.

Sources consulted by Borderland Beat indicated that Don Zefe had been spending a considerable amount of time in Nuevo León since the pandemic. His activities remained largely unknown for years because he had retired for an extended period. Upon emerging from retirement, he maintained a low profile while attempting to form a new criminal organization, possibly operating as an independent drug trafficker.

Early criminal and police career

Don Zefe was a licensed civil engineer, but in the late 1990s he became involved with a Gulf Cartel faction based in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, then under the control of Gilberto García Mena, known as "El June" or "El Yune", a powerful drug kingpin.

In 1997, Don Zefe bribed and recruited several military personnel stationed in Miguel Alemán who were assigned to support the Federal Judicial Police (PJF). Among them were Arturo Guzmán Decena (Z-1) and Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (Z-3). García Mena and Don Zefe employed active-duty soldiers as bodyguards and enforcers, effectively outsourcing armed protection through corrupt members of the military and law enforcement. This arrangement functioned as a legal loophole at the time, as illegal possession of military-grade firearms carried severe prison sentences.

Over time, Guzman Decena, Lazcano, and others formally joined the Gulf Cartel after the organization regrouped in Matamoros under Osiel Cardenas Guillen, with support from military member Alejandro Lucio Morales Betancourt (Z-2) and members of the Matamoros Municipal Police and Tamaulipas State Police. This cadre later became known as Los Zetas.

Leadership tenure

Don Zefe initially served as El June’s financial operator, managing his finances and coordinating cash shipments of drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico. Over time, he gained El June’s trust and was elevated to leadership roles within the Gulf Cartel. He also worked alongside another key smuggler, Adelio (or Edelio) López Falcón, known as "El Yeyo." At the height of his influence, he served as the cartel’s regional leader in the municipalities of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Camargo, Miguel Aleman, Mier, and Guerrero.

In 1999, Don Zefe became chief of the Miguel Alemán Municipal Police, a position he held until 2001. He reportedly secured the appointment through his extensive criminal and political connections, including his relationship with Miguel Alemán mayor and former state police officer Raúl Rodríguez Barrera, known as "El Chupón."

Don Zefe’s father, Israel Peña Barrera, also served in the local police during this period. To conceal his illicit activities, Don Zefe presented himself as a legitimate cattle rancher and businessman, using his El Carrusel ranch in Miguel Alemán as a front for this alternate identity.

Raul Rodriguez Barrera (top left) along with Don Zefe (top right and bottom images); Image provided by HEARST

Don Zefe was known for his skillful negotiation and firm leadership style. Several high-profile murders were attributed to him between 1998 and 2001. Among these was the December 1998 killing of Armando Meléndez Sánchez, a potential Miguel Alemán mayoral candidate and political opponent of Don Zefe’s associate El Chupon. Melendez Sanchez was shot by gunmen in front of his wife in Miguel Alemán.

Two police chiefs who confronted Don Zefe were also murdered: Jaime Rajid Gutiérrez Arreola, a commander in the PJF, and Pablo Gaytán Mejía, the Miguel Alemán rural police chief. Investigators reportedly linked these crimes to Don Zefe after several suspects were arrested and confessed to his involvement as the mastermind. In January 2002, Don Zefe and his brother Rodolfo were additionally connected to the murder of journalist Félix Alonso Fernández García, who had published extensive reports on the Gulf Cartel’s activities in Miguel Alemán under El June and Don Zefe.

Assassination attempt

In October 2001, a group of gunmen dressed in military clothes forced their way into one of his estates in Monterrey to kill him. Don Zefe was not at the property and was believed to be hiding elsewhere in the area, but it was said that he frequented the property and had just been there hours earlier before reportedly receiving a tip that gunmen were coming to kill him.

The reasons for the assassination attempt are not officially known, and multiple lines of investigation have been considered. According to one account, the attack was carried out by a group associated with El June, who had been arrested months earlier, in April 2001, during a high-profile military operation in Guardados de Abajo, Tamaulipas. This version suggests that Don Zefe provided authorities with information that contributed to El June’s downfall.

Another account claims that El Yeyo ordered the attack, believing that Don Zefe had falsely implicated him in setting up El June. Others have said that Cardenas Guillen, who was rising to prominence in the Matamoros Gulf Cartel faction at the time, ordered the attack to eliminate potential rivals, taking advantage of El June’s arrest.

Location of Miguel Aleman municipality, where Don Zefe was from, within Tamaulipas. It sits across the border from Roma, TX, and is part of the Frontera Chica or Ribereña region. Image provided by HEARST.

Whereabouts in Canada and US

For several years, writers and commentators at Borderland Beat closely tracked Don Zefe’s whereabouts. Although some sources placed him in Brazil or Cuba, it was confirmed in 2019 that he was residing in Canada and South Texas. In that year, Borderland Beat contributors Bjeff / leChef and Morogris identified his Canadian address by cross-referencing family social media activity with property records.

A third-party source later confirmed that Don Zefe, his wife Cynthia Torres García, and their three children relocated to Canada following a 2001 assassination attempt. At least one of their children was able to get refugee status, while the others entered the country on student visas. 

The family settled in the Vancouver, British Columbia area, where Don Zefe attempted to live discreetly. Despite leaving Mexico, he continued to fight legal proceedings in Mexican courts and had multiple assets seized over the following years. A source from Tamaulipas with direct knowledge of the family confirmed to Borderland Beat that Don Zefe was a regular visitor to Monterrey and maintained residences in the Vancouver area and Mission, Texas. Borderland Beat confirmed through publicly available property records from Hidalgo County that the Texas address was under his legal name, Zeferino Peña.

Don Zefe and his wife Cynthia were described as deeply religious, with Cynthia frequently sharing religious content on social media. His turn toward religious life followed a traumatic family incident several years earlier at his Mission, Texas, residence. During that period, relatives were staying at the home when one of his nephews, then in his late teens, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. While the death was attributed to the mishandling of a firearm, suicide was also considered. The incident reportedly had a profound effect on Don Zefe and his family, after which he became more devoted to religion. 

Although Canada provided a safe haven, Don Zefe reportedly struggled to adjust to life there. Sources stated that he missed Mexico and began traveling more frequently over the years. While it is unclear whether he returned to Miguel Alemán at some point, he was known to visit Nuevo Leon and the McAllen area in South Texas on occasion. One of his children is the owner of the Grand Virrey Hotel in Miguel Alemán and it is possible Don Zefe kept multiple fronts through intermediaries. The hacienda he owned, Quinta Santa Lucía, where he survived the assassination attempt in 2001, now serves as an event venue, but there were many other properties tied to him.

Security experts have described the Monterrey area as a safe haven for large-scale drug traffickers and retired criminals, a place where they could send their families or visit themselves to avoid the violence common elsewhere in Mexico. The region is known to be home to several key figures associated with the old Gulf Cartel, including former and active criminal leaders, money launderers, and corrupt law enforcement officials who have supported the organization since the 1990s and earlier. Don Zefe owned several properties across Nuevo León, which he likely used as temporary hideouts.

Don Zefe was reportedly cautious at public gatherings and avoided appearing in photographs with family members, many of whom were active on social media. In December 2021, he was spotted in Xcaret, Quintana Roo, during his son’s wedding and a few pictures of him were posted on private social media accounts which were shared with Borderland Beat. By that time, it was widely believed that Don Zefe had retired from organized crime and had not been identified as an active member of the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, or their splinter factions since 2005.

Don Zefe was among the few remaining Zetas founders who were never reported as apprehended or killed in action. Other original Zetas members who are still at large include Jorge Lopez Perez (El Chuta), Prisciliano Ibarra Yepis, Gustavo González Castro (El Erotico), Carlos Vera Calva (El Vera), Benjamín Torres Sosa, Eduardo Estrada Gonzalez, Leopoldo Flores Soto, Maxiley Barahona Nadales (Z-19), and Daniel Enrique Márquez Erives (or Marquez Aguilar; El Chocotorro).

Sources: Milenio; Milenio (2); El Financiero; Azteca Noticias; Aristegui Noticias; Borderland Beat archives; Anonymous sources

Image credit: Aristegui Noticias; HEARST from Borderland Beat; (2)

Note: For further reading, please visit the Wikipedia page of Zeferino Peña Cuéllar (Don Zefe), which Borderland Beat contributor Morogris created/published on 17 July 2019. The article includes over 90 sources.