Los Zetas Cartel Leaders Could Face the Death Penalty In The U.S. After Extradition From Mexico

Mexican authorities extradited 29 prisoners requested by the U.S. government due to their role in drug trafficking and other crimes in late February. Among them were Rafael Caro Quintero, one of Mexico's first major drug lords and co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, and the Treviño Morales brothers, identified as the two top leaders of the Los Zetas Cartel.

Los Zetas were an elite group of former military personnel who defected from the Mexican army and quickly became one of the most important criminal organizations in Mexico during the early 2000s. For years, the group was led by Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño Morales, known as "Z-40" and "Z-42" respectively. According to U.S. officials they were involved in numerous crimes including drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms trafficking. With so many charges against them, Mexican media outlet Milenio reported that prosecutors are already pushing for them to get the death penalty.

The outlet detailed that prosecutors have asked judges to consider the case of the Treviño Morales brothers as complex due to severity of the charges and, in case of being found guilty, they would then be eligible to receive the death penalty.

"Authorities count with hundreds of thousands of electronic evidence and other documents related to drug seizures that can be attributed to the defendants," reads a passage of the article.

Los Zetas started working as hired assassins and bodyguards for the Cártel del Golfo. The group was widely known for its violent modus operandi, which included kidnappings, extortions and torture to intimidate other rival groups. As InSight Crime highlights, Los Zetas were known for their use of state-of-the-art weapons and communications technology. At one point, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considered them to be the most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and violent enforcement group in Mexico.

The group was originally led by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, who then recruited the Treviño Morales brothers in 2003. By 2011, Z-40 and Z-42 were part of Lazcano's inner circle of high-ranking members and after his death in 2012 they took over as the main leaders of Los Zetas.

Despite their success leading Los Zetas, the Treviño Morales brothers had already been behind bars for quite some time before their extraditions in February. Miguel Ángel was captured by Mexican officials in July of 2013 while his brother Z-42 was arrested in March of 2015, although prosecutors argue that they kept on leading the cartel from prison.