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
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.
This information was translated and reposted from MILENIO
Pemex personnel, along with members of the National Guard and the Attorney General's Office, were at the Matamoros and Reynosa intersections.
WRITTEN BY: ANAHY MEZA
APRIL 4, 2O25
Pemex personnel, the National Guard, and the Attorney General's Office (FGR) conducted an operation against fuel smuggling at the international bridges in Reynosa and Matamoros, which caused imports to be paralyzed for hours at the Tamaulipas border this Friday.
The inspections were carried out on trailers attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. In Reynosa, they were carried out at the Pharr Reynosa International Bridge, while in Matamoros, they were carried out at the Los Indios and Los Tomates International Bridges, according to unofficial information and social media reports that demonstrated the delay.
In the case of Reynosa, the line of trucks extended along Cage Avenue and overtook the Military Highway in the city of Pharr.
The drivers of the trucks complained about the delay, as they were unable to move forward for several hours due to the very thorough inspections. First, the truck drivers were asked for their documentation to verify that the cargo matched the invoices and the customs declaration, meaning that no attempt would be made to import fuel by passing it off as other merchandise that would pay less taxes.
A physical inspection of the units was also carried out, which made the procedure very slow, and by Friday afternoon, transportation and importing companies began to push to expedite the process.
Therefore, prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office (FGR), members of the National Guard, and Pemex had to speed up the process to move the line more quickly.
Fiscal huachicol experienced a 14% increase since 2020, according to estimates by the Tax Administration Service (SAT). This represented 14% of the total demand for gasoline and diesel in Mexico, resulting in significant losses.
The strategies used to evade taxes include importing fuels labeled as automotive lubricants that are not subject to the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS), altering documents, and falsely declaring imports.
It is estimated that fiscal huachicol represents a variation between the amount exported by the United States and imported into Mexico of 40 million liters of fuel per day.
This figure reveals a monumental embezzlement in terms of tax revenue, particularly in consumption taxes, such as the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT), which are essential for supporting social programs and infrastructure projects.
In southern Tamaulipas, 10 million liters of diesel were seized from a Singapore-flagged ship. The ship arrived at the Port of Tampico and unloaded the fuel at the designated yard, which was then stored on a property in Altamira.
The violent Ricardo Gonzalez, "Mando R" "Ricky" founder of the Los Chukys armed wing of Cartel Del Noreste and regional boss with a presence in Nuevo Leon was captured the morning this Monday, February 3, 2025, in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, arrested Ricardo “N”, leader of a violence generating group that operates in Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and Coahuila; he is linked to extortion and multiple attacks on police officers of Fuerza Civil of Nuevo Leon.
@SSeguridadNL
. In August 2024, he participated and coordinated criminal cells to attack military personnel in Nuevo Laredo, where five members were wounded and two more were killed. He has arrest warrants for homicide and illegal deprivation of liberty.
Our recognition to the military personnel of the Special Forces of
@SEDENAmx
for this operation".
SHOOTOUTS AND ROADBLOCKS REPORTED IN NUEVO LAREDO, TAMAULIPAS
A federal judge ordered the formal imprisonment of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, alias “Mata Amigos” and founder of the Zetas criminal group, for his probable criminal responsibility in the crime of organized crime in the hypothesis of crimes against health.
The Attorney General's Office (FGR), informed that the measure was obtained through the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (FEMDO), in coordination with the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Regional Control (FECOR), in the State of Mexico.
According to the investigation, Osiel Cardenas belonged to a criminal organization “in which he allegedly exercised leadership and made alliances with members of various criminal gangs, in addition to trafficking drugs in the Port of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Guerrero, Tamaulipas and internationally,” said the Attorney General's Office in a statement.
After the evidence provided by the agent of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), the Fourth District Court in Criminal Matters with residence in Toluca, issued a formal order of imprisonment against this person, in the Federal Center of Social Reinsertion number 1 “Altiplano”, in Almoloya de Juárez.
Cárdenas Guillén was deported from the United States to Mexico on December 16.
It should be noted that, in the last week, an arrest warrant was served on him in prison for the probable commission of the crime of homicide.
The Attorney General's Office (FGR) executed a second arrest warrant against Osiel Cardenas Guillen, former leader of the Gulf Cartel, who was extradited from the United States to Mexico, this time for the crime of aggravated homicide.
On Wednesday, Cardenas Guillen appeared at 12:00 noon before the Seventh District Judge for Criminal Matters in the state of Jalisco, to hear the FGR's accusation.
According to Proceso, judicial sources confirmed that during the hearing, the man also known as the “mata amigos” (friend killer) reserved his right to testify.
As happened in the first hearing he attended, for organized crime and crimes against health, his defense requested the doubling of the constitutional deadline to resolve his legal situation, so that the judge will have to decide whether or not to issue him a formal prison sentence no later than December 23 at 8:20 p.m.
The Attorney General's Office (FGR) accused him of the murder of six people in 2007, the year in which he was extradited to the United States.
Consequently, the Attorney General's Office has pending the execution of two other arrest warrants and the reactivation of seven criminal proceedings that have been held up since 2007.
The pending warrants are for organized crime and crimes against health.
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”.
Early this morning, the Tamaulipas State government reported that Héctor Joel Villegas González, the Tamaulipas State Secretary, survived an armed attack while driving on the Reynosa-San Fernando highway.
Tamaulipas state authorities announced they have destroyed 14 captured Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles (IAFVs), or "narco tanks", seized in operations against organized crime groups in the state.
On June 19, the Attorney Generals Office (FGR) released a video and photos on their Twitter account of the destruction, which happened in the FGR compound in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Since 2018, 630 armored vehicles were captured by Mexican authorities from organized crime groups across Mexico, revealed an Army press release in July 2022. Usually, about 80% of armored vehicles seized in Mexico are professionally armored, while the remaining 20%, like those shown here, are "homemade" in clandestine workshops. The highest number of these vehicles were found in Tamaulipas state with 231, just about a third of the nationwide total.
Narco tanks, also known as "narco blindajes" or "monstruos" are Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles (IAFVs) intended to act as moveable cover when engaging in combat. They are constructed in clandestine workshops, where large trucks, often stolen, are stripped and fitted with metal plates to offer protection in gun fights. The most common automobiles forming the base for these narco tanks are large 4x4 trucks.
According to the Mexican military, narco tanks are "not very maneuverable in urban areas or on soft or sandy ground", due to the large metal panels that are often welded on the vehicles frame for protection. This added weight makes them incredibly heavy, but does provide some protection from small arms fire.
Aside from their advantages in a gunfight, narco tanks are important tools for intimidation. They are frequently shown off in photos and videos by cartel members.
According to Héctor Romero Sánchez, a security sector representative interviewed by Foro TV, organized crime groups have started to kidnap technicians and mechanics to up armor their vehicles in clandestine workshops.
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.
Reynosa, Tamaulipas— Members
of the Mexican military, marines, and Fuerza Tamaulipas repelled attacks by
armed groups yesterday in the cities of Matamoros and Río Bravo, in a battle
scenario that left a total of 10 dead: six aggressors killed and four others
were executed with a coup de grâce in a dispute between rival groups.
In the municipality of Río
Bravo, members of the Navy of Mexico responded to gunfire in two separate
incidents that killed four suspects belonging to organized crime groups.
The first violent
incident occurred in the neighborhoods Paraíso and Paraíso Norte, where several
individuals traveling in a pickup truck with Texas plates fired on the Mexican
Navy, who were carrying out patrols.
The infantrymen
repelled the aggression and a persecution was unleashed in the area.After the confrontation, one of the alleged
offenders died and the navy seized a vehicle, a high-powered weapon, and
communication equipment.
Through a statement,
the Tamaulipas Coordination Group specified that later, another group of
individuals on board two trucks attacked members of the navy, as it passed
through gap #109, located at kilometer 14, in the rural area of the
municipality.
These events resulted
in the deaths of three alleged delinquents, which had assault weapons,
magazines, and various equipment.
In social networks, it
was said that one of the armed clashes resulted in the death of a man known as “Comandante
Charmín.”
Ministerial authorities
were informed of the two assaults on navy personnel, in order to follow up on
corresponding investigations.
The Tamaulipas
Coordination Group (GCT) reported that the vehicles in which five people tried
to flee in the municipality of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas, were gunned down
by members of the Mexican Navy and exploded, burning the passengers.
According to the
agency, the five were alleged kidnappers who opened fire against the marines
after being caught throwing the lifeless body of a man on a road leading from
the town of Valadeces to the common land of Lucio Blanco.
A pickup truck and a
Mercury Grand Marquis were used for the escape of the five men, which lasted a
few meters, and after a shootout, were burned completely, around 12:45 hours of
this past Friday.
The Mexican Marines opened
fire in defense of their lives, said the GCT.
None of the bodies have
been identified.
Full text of the
statement:
Announcement from the
Tamaulipas Coordination Group
July, 22, 2016
Ciudad Victoria,
Tamaulipas— The Tamaulipas Coordination Group reports that on Friday, July 22,
in a village in the municipality of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, at least five suspected
kidnappers were died burned after the two vehicles in which they tried to
escape burst into flames.
The no deceased, still unidentified,
were surprised by members of the Mexican Navy when they were throwing the
lifeless body of a man who had been killed, this occurred on a road leading
from the village of Valadeces to the common land of Lucio Blanco.
Realizing the presence of
the marines, the suspects opened fire and tried to escape in a pickup truck and
a Mercury Grand Marquis, starting a chase that lasted a few meters.
Navy personnel repelled
the attack in defense of their lives and when they tried to intercept the two
vehicles, they exploded and burned completely, which killed the attackers.
The incident occurred
shortly after 12:45 hours.The victim of
the kidnappers has not been identified, but it was a young man who was
handcuffed and had several bullet wounds on his body.
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