Zeta Drug Cartel Founder Galindo Mellado Cruz Killed In Shootout, Say Officials

A security official from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas confirmed to the Associated Press on Sunday that a founder of the Zetas drug cartel was one of six people killed in a shootout in the city of Reynosa on Friday morning. Galindo Mellado Cruz, alias “El Mellado” or “Z-9”, had escaped twice from Tamaulipas prisons where he was incarcerated on charges including rape, homicide, and armed robbery, according to Cronica. Authorities identify him as one of 30 former members of a military special force team who originally formed the Zetas as the armed wing of the Gulf cartel, the gang with which the Zetas later broke. “Z-9” no longer held a command position with the Zetas at the time of his death, according to the AP.

Animal Politico reported last week that battles between federal police and presumed cartel members in Reynosa led to closures of schools and businesses and ended with at least 30 people killed over seven days of confrontations. Two of the dead were federal police and a third a local police chief. Authorities allege all 27 of the others were cartel members. Tamaulipas, which shares a border with Texas, is the site of an ongoing turf war between the Zetas and the Gulf cartel. Cartels were said to have blocked several streets in Reynosa after hearing of the military’s imminent arrival, setting down spike strips to puncture the tires of soldiers.

Notimex reported over the weekend that the Tamaulipas government had first issued a press release announcing the six deaths but without identifying those killed. A photo said to depict a bloodied Mellado Cruz was leaked by a Tamaulipas official later that day.