In the United States, the second hearing of the Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño Morales brothers, the leaders and founders of the ZETAS Cartel, was held today. They showed their muscle and the amount of money they have to pay for their defense. We have already told you about the Dream Team here. Nine lawyers were sitting there defending them.
This report is from my colleague Ángel Hernández. In the federal court in Washington, the second hearing was held against Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, alias "El Z40," accused of drug trafficking along with his brother, Omar "El Z42," who did not appear due to scheduling complications.
Minutes before 11:00 a.m., the chains that bind him could be heard in the courtroom. Treviño arrived accompanied by Alfredo Rangel, alias "El Chicles," former plaza boss of the criminal group in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas. "El Z40" was dressed in a white shirt, blue overalls, glasses, and his hair was almost A shaved head, as well as a growing beard, shook hands with his lawyers and then, notebook in hand, listened to the judge, the prosecutor, and his defense attorneys.
Alfredo Rangel, dressed in orange and also wearing glasses, paid equal attention. The nine people who formed part of the Treviño brothers' legal team stood out in front of the three representatives of the U.S. Attorney's Office, led by Frank Pérez, Eduardo Balareso, lawyers also for Ismael Zambada García, El Mayo, and a former lawyer for Joaquín Guzmán Loera, El Chapo. They completely filled the defendants' table. Prosecutor Kenneth Hendrick presented the status of the evidence in the case: 490,000 intercepted calls, transcripts, summaries of information, and other evidence, a total of 4.9 million files that are part of the investigation in Houston, plus another wealth of evidence that the offices of Dallas and Laredo, in addition to the Mexican government, have not yet filed a complaint.
The judge determined that the third hearing will be on October 14, once the prosecution decides whether it will seek the death penalty against the defendants. He announced that he is preparing motions to demonstrate a potential conflict of interest for Eduardo Balareso, one of the Z40 lawyers, as he is the legal representative of another co-defendant in the case. This is Gilberto Barragán Valderas, alias the former Gulf Cartel leader who was extradited to the United States in 2020. In response, the lawyer denied that he had a conflict of interest and warned that he should demand an explanation as to how Mexico handed the Treviño brothers over to the United States last February because it was clearly not an extradition. According to Milenio Noticias, Ángel Hernández
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 72 illegal aliens at a nightclub run by a suspected member of the Cartel del Noreste/Los Zetas during an operation in the Charleston, South Carolina area over the weekend. Los Zetas, now formally recognized as Cártel del Noreste (CDN), was designated a terrorist organization by the Trump Administration in February 2025.
Treasury Sanctions High-Ranking Members of Foreign Terrorist Organization Cartel del Noreste
Cartel Engaged in Drug and Arms Trafficking, as well as Deadly 2022 Attack on U.S. Consulate
WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two high-ranking members of the Mexico-based Cartel del Noreste (CDN), formerly known as Los Zetas. CDN, one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), exerts significant influence over the border region, especially near the Laredo/Nuevo Laredo point of entry. These sanctions underscore our commitment to target CDN and other violent cartels involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and other heinous crimes that are endangering the American people.
“In working toward the total elimination of cartels to Make America Safe Again, the Trump Administration will hold these terrorists accountable for their criminal activities and abhorrent acts of violence,” saidSecretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “CDN and its leaders have carried out a violent campaign of intimidation, kidnapping, and terrorism, threatening communities on both sides of our southern border. We will continue to cut off the cartels’ ability to obtain the drugs, money, and guns that enable their violent activities.”
Today’s action was coordinated with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This action was also closely coordinated with Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit, Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera.
The action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and their supporters.
CARTEL DEL NORESTE
CDN is a terrorist organization primarily based in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon. CDN has been involved in narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering, vehicle theft, and oil theft. They have also been involved in terrorist activity to intimidate American citizens and local communities in Mexico, including engaging in acts of extortion, kidnapping, and murder.
In March 2022, CDN hit the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo with gunfire and grenades after the arrest of a CDN member who was wanted in Mexico for terrorism, homicide, and extortion. The U.S. Consulate closed for almost a month due to this incident. This was a retaliatory act intended to intimidate the American diplomats serving their country internationally.
On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of State identified CDN as an FTO and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Prior to its designation as an FTO, CDN, then known as Los Zetas, was identified by the United States as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker on April 15, 2009 pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking. On July 24, 2011, Los Zetas was named as a transnational criminal organization (TCO) in the annex to E.O. 13581. On December 15, 2021, OFAC designated CDN pursuant to E.O. 14059.
SANCTIONING KEY MEMBERS OF CARTEL DEL NORESTE
Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma(De Anda) is a high-ranking member of CDN residing in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. De Anda oversees the procurement of guns and ammunition for CDN. In this position, De Anda has overseen payments to facilitators and straw purchasers in the United States and organized the delivery of firearms to Nuevo Laredo. These straw purchasers made false representations to secure firearms from American businesses, who fell victim to the cartel’s lies. Some of the weapons have been used in terrorist activity. One of the weapons purchased in this arms-trafficking conspiracy was recovered after CDN attacked Mexico’s army, Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), during one of SEDENA’s patrols in March 2024.
Firearms acquired by affiliates of CDN smuggled into Mexico
Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda (Gonzalez), residing in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, was the second-in-command of CDN prior to his February 2025 arrest by Mexican authorities. In this capacity, Gonzalez led an armed enforcement wing of CDN. Gonzalez has benefitted from these trafficked firearms in his various criminal activities, including attacks on Mexican police and military, and drug trafficking. On February 3, 2025, Mexican law enforcement arrested Gonzalez in connection with the August 17, 2024 CDN attack on the Mexican military, which killed two Mexican soldiers and injured five. Mexican authorities indicated that, at the time of arrest, Gonzalez was in possession of a rifle, a handgun, 300 grams of methamphetamine, and a package of 1,500 fentanyl pills.
EL RICKY
OFAC’s designation of De Anda and Gonzalez was the result of strong partnership and coordination with HSI San Antonio, ATF San Antonio (Operation Southbound Firearms Trafficking Task Force), and the DEA.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.
Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities with designated or otherwise blocked persons.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions with the persons designated today entails risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. Pursuant to this authority, OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction on behalf of an SDGT.
Exports, reexports, or transfers of items subject to U.S. export controls involving persons included on the SDN List pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, may be subject to additional restrictions administered by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security. See 15 C.F.R. section 744.8 for additional information.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here, and to submit a request for removal, click here.
A key takeaway is regarding the shift in alliances and cartel factions. Most notably the cooperation between the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and CDN.
The DEA reports that Los Mayos supplies CDN with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine which CDN then smuggles northbound into the United States. The CDN facilitates the sale and distribution of these drugs using routes under control of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Canada has listed seven transnational criminal organizations as terrorist entities, the public safety minister said on Thursday.
The list includes Mara Salvatrucha, Cartel de Sinaloa and Tren de Aragua.
The announcement comes a day after the United States designated Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and other drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
The hyperviolent Cartel Del Noreste, or Cartel of the Northeast, published a video making an official statement about the violent events that occurred early Monday, February 4, 2025. The capture of Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, "Mando Ricky" regional chief of C.D.N. with influence in Nuevo Laredo, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila, led to violent clashes with C.D.N. forces attacking military personnel including an attempted shooting down an army helicopter.
RICARDO GONZALEZ SAUCEDA
"MANDO RICKY"
The Cartel Del Noreste is currently led by Juan Cisneros Treviño, "La Sombra" nephew of Miguel Angel Treviño Morales "40" and Oscar Omar Treviño Morales "42" founders of the C.D.N. criminal organization.
C.D.N. FEBRUARY 4, 2025
VIDEO TRANSLATION
BY: SOL PRENDIDO
This communique goes out to the citizens and authorities of Nuevo Laredo. The Northeast Cartel informs the public that it is completely false that there is a curfew in the city, as has been reported on social media.
We also categorically deny any threat to the DEA in Laredo, Texas, federal and state authorities in Mexico, or the US. The recent events in the city are the result of clashes resulting from operations carried out by the authorities.
They don’t represent premeditated attacks against them. We call on the population to remain calm and to continue with their daily activities as usual. It is essential to avoid spreading false information that only seeks to sow fear and confusion in the community.
We reiterate to the population that they can continue with their daily lives with peace of mind. We urge everyone not to fall for rumors that only seek to generate confusion and panic in our society.
Juan Gerardo Treviño-Chavez also known as "El Huevo" pleaded guilty in a federal court in San Antonio, Texas today to 15 counts related to his involvement in drug trafficking throughout Mexico and the United States as a former leader of the Cartel del Noreste under his uncles Omar and Miguel Treviño-Morales.
This article was translated and reposted from EL UNIVERSAL
Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales has been deprived of his freedom for eleven years without any conviction.
WRITTEN BY: MANUEL ESPINO
NOVEMBER 11, 2024
Eleven judges reached the same decision: Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales is not “El Z40” that the authorities are looking for, emphasized Juan Manuel Delgado, lawyer for Treviño Morales, who has been in prison for eleven years without any conviction.
The litigant affirmed that the Attorney General's Office (FGR) proved that there is a person named Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, with the alias “Z40” and that he is the leader of “Los Zetas”, but it was proven that his client is a homonym.
He recalled that there were more than 10 protected witnesses who testified against his defendant, three of whom, when confronted by his defendant Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, stated that they did know “Z40”, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, but that the person who was in front of them was not “Z40”.
“Of the entire universe of collaborating witnesses that the Attorney General's Office brought, absolutely all of them coincide in describing Z40 with the same name as my client, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, as a person of 1 meter 80 centimeters, with a closed beard, but with very clear secondary identification characteristics:
“For example, everyone talks about him having a scar on his right parietal, a prolonged scar on his abdomen, a scar on his right arm, a very large tattoo on his chest, but those characteristics do not correspond to Mr. Miguel,” he said.
And he added: “If there are 10 protected witnesses to talk about a judicial error, we could understand that a judge could make a mistake, but that at the moment 11 judges have reached the same determination, I think it is beyond reasonable, the doubt, let's say for the general public, that there is an error in the identification of Z40, but what there is no doubt is that it is an established legal truth and against and against a legal truth, we will have to go against the rule of law itself to have it dismissed. Today it has already been accredited by the Judicial Power that it is not the one they are looking for or the one the United States is requesting”.
Attorney Juan Manuel Delgado assured that by means of expert evidence they accredited that his client, Mr. Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, “never had those tattoos or scars and we accredited that our client has never had those types of characteristics.
Therefore, he said, “as of today there is an irrefutable legal truth” that his client is not “El Z40”, even the litigant pointed out that the FGR has accepted in several replies sent to them that there is a confusion in the identity of his client.
Regarding the extradition process of his client, attorney Juan Manuel Delgado explained that no judicial opinion has been issued on the appropriateness of the transfer to the United States, the country that requires it.
He added that in the ten years he has been defending Mr. Miguel Angel Treviño Morales there has not been any conviction against him and a few months ago he obtained the last acquittal sentence for organized crime.
“We still have one more process pending resolution, which is the process derived from the arrest of Mr. Miguel Angel, which I must say is a process that although it is still under investigation, we are still weaving a defense, there is no sentence, it is a process that is plagued with lies and falsehoods”.
However, he emphasized that all the sentences that exist in Mexico against his defendant Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, are liberties, he has been in preventive prison for 11 years without a single conviction, he is not guilty of anything today and what is even more relevant is that today in Mexico he is not being accused of organized crime, nor is he being accused of being Z40, this is finished”.
This article was translated and reposted from MILENIO
Bola Treviño', Co-leader of Northeast Cartel and nephew of Z-40, arrested in Tamaulipas
Carlos Alberto Monsiváis Treviño was captured in flagrante delicto by members of the National Guard and the Sedena.
LA BOLA TREVIÑO
WRITTEN BY: ANGEL HERNANDEZ
SEPTEMBER 3, 2024
Carlos Alberto Monsiváis Treviño, alias Bola Treviño, was captured in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in flagrante delicto by members of the National Guard and the Mexican Army.
The Cartel Del Noreste (Northeast Cartel) based out of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, announced their arrival in Juarez, Nuevo Leon. Cartel Del Noreste or C.D.N., is a very hyper-violent criminal organization whose footsoldiers worship the devil. The Cartel Del Noreste has now created a new armed wing called, "Chukys" honoring the diabolical movie character Chucky the doll.
Today Tuesday, July 16, 2024, early morning an unknown number of narco-banners were hung in key areas of Juarez, Nuevo León. The banners were signed by Cartel Del Noreste armed wing Chukys. A source who asked to remain anonymous said the following when asked what areas or plazas Cartel Del Noreste controls or has a presence in,
" C.D.N. is strong in the peripheral areas close to the exit to Nuevo Laredo, Apodaca, Escobedo, and Santa Catarina and from there to all the small towns on the highway and free road to Nuevo Laredo.
They make incursions to MTY, for example, and from there to Apodaca Cadereyta and Santa Catarina next to San Pedro and San Nicolas."
CARTEL DEL NORESTE IN NL
BANNERS TRANSLATION:
" IMPORTANT NOTICE PEOPLE OF JUAREZ WE HAVE ARRIVED HERE IN THIS MUNICIPALITY, WE JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE CARTEL DEL NORESTE ARE NOT HERE TO HARM ANY INNOCENT CIVILIANS, EXTORT BUSINESSES, KIDNAP, OR ASK FOR MONEY, WE ARE HERE TO CLEAN THE TOWN OF THOSE RATS, LIKE SINALOA CARTEL, GULF CARTEL, JALISCO CARTEL, AND INDEPENDENT GROUPS. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TROUBLE, THEN GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, OR LOOK FOR A LINE AND COME WORK WITH US. ALL OF YOU ARE A GROUP OF GANG MEMBERS AND THE GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS FOR THIS FUCKERS PLEASE UNDERSTAND WE DO NOT WANT TROUBLE WITH THE GOVERNMENT BUT IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS WARNING THEN WE WILL HAVE TO GET THINGS DONE OUR WAY HE WHO WARNS IS NOT A TRAITOR YOU ALREADY SAW AND WE MADE IT CLEAR THAT WE DO NOT PLAY AROUND.
This article was translated and reposted from RIODOCE
JULY 6, 2024
A federal judge has halted, for the time being, the extradition of Oscar Omar Treviño Morales, alias Z-42 considered a former leader of Los Zetas, to the United States.
According to El Universal, the defense of the former criminal leader filed an injunction against the extradition at the end of June before the head of the Fourth District Court for Criminal Matters, María del Carmen Sánchez Cisneros.
The judge granted an ex officio and outright suspension because "the extradition and departure of the plaintiff from the country is imminent.
Treviño Morales is wanted by the District Court of Columbia, in the United States, for drug trafficking.
Z-42 was arrested in March 2015 in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, and is currently imprisoned in the Federal Center for Social Readaptation Number 12 "CPS-Guanajuato".
The former leader of Los Zetas is accused by federal authorities of the massacre of migrants in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, as well as the burning of the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, among other acts of violence.
This article was translated and reposted from RIODOCE
JULY 3, 2024
Four military officers detained for the homicides against five young men that occurred on February 26, 2023, in Nuevo Laredo were released from prison, since the District Judge revoked their official pre-trial detention, informed the victims' defense attorney, Edgar Netro Acuña.
Netro Acuña detailed that the federal judge of Reynosa revoked the precautionary measure issued against Juan Carlos "N", Jorge "N", Bernardo "N" and Agustin "N", all of them with the rank of corporal in the 16 Motorized Cavalry Regiment based in Nuevo Laredo. The four had been held in Military Camp Number One, located in the municipality of Miguel Hidalgo, since November 2023.
The lawyer of the victims explained that the defense of the soldiers requested a review of the precautionary measures that another judge had imposed due to their involvement in another process for contempt and military disobedience, a case in which they were acquitted.
The released soldiers will be under random surveillance by the National Guard, they are allowed to approach the relatives of the victims and witnesses of the case. Every Saturday they must report to the address of Military Camp Number One to sign in. In addition, they are obliged to reside in the same camp and are forbidden to leave Mexico City.
The charred bodies of 19 people, sixteen of them Central American citizens, were found in various vehicles in the town of Santa Anita, in the municipality of Camargo, Tamaulipas. In a statement, the Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office specified that it had already opened an investigation for the homicides of the burned bodies and vehicles.
It is said that on the afternoon of January 23, authorities from the Ministry of Public Security were alerted by a citizen of a report that a vehicle was on fire in a field in the town of Santa Anita.
Dozens of citizens and
neighbors of the municipality of Nochistlán de Mejía, located at 224 kilometers
south of the capital of Zacatecas reported on a violent shootout through
various social networks that lasted for several hours during the early hours of
Wednesday without the authorities having so far issued an official
communication in regards to the incident.
Various videos and
messages of the citizenship recorded the events where strong machinegun bursts can
be heard throughout various parts of the area where the presence of armed
groups in the area has been denounced.
The “magical town” of Nochistlán
has been a disputed area of alleged members of organized crime who are fighting
for the drug trafficking corridor bordering both the north and northwest with
the municipality of Jalapa, south with Yahualica in Jalisco, to the east with Apulco,
to the west of the municipalities of Juchipila and Apozol, to the north and
northeast with Teocaltiche in Jalisco and finally to the south bordering with
the municipality of Mezticacán, also located in Jalisco.
Neighbors of the area
alerted on the presence of trucks with armed men on board moving throughout
highways and roads as well as in the urban area of Nochistlán.
“Video 2: Shootout some
moments ago in Nochistlán, the
following video shows the northern outskirts of the municipality as the two
convoys of armed subjects attacked each other.”
