Mexican authorities extradited the two supreme leaders of Los Zetas just hours before that country’s security cabinet was set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his staff.
On Thursday morning, Mexican authorities working with U.S. authorities extradited Los Zetas supreme leader Miguel Angel “Z-40” Trevino Morales and his brother Omar “Z-42” Trevino Morales. Both men are facing multiple drug trafficking and money laundering charges in the United States. The two had been in Mexican custody for years, fighting their extradition and, according to law enforcement sources, controlling their criminal empire from behind bars.
Details of the extradition remain unclear. However, on Thursday morning, the Webb County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert confirming the extradition and warning the residents of Laredo to be on alert due to the potential of cartel violence taking place on the Mexican side of the border. In the warning, the sheriff’s office mentions that the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas tends to respond with extreme violence, placing locals at risk.
The extradition comes just hours before Mexico’s security cabinet is set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others in a closed-doors meeting aimed at helping ease the pressure and threats of tariffs against Mexico by the Trump administration.
The Cartel Del Noreste, or Los Zetas, is one of the six Mexican cartels recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations by President Donald Trump and the U.S. State Department, as Breitbart Texas reported.
As news of the extradition began to spread in Mexico, Juan Manuel Delgado, one of the attorneys representing the Trevino Morales brothers, gave various TV and radio interviews. In them, he claimed that his clients were still in the process of having an extradition trial and that any attempts to extradite them would be illegal.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.