Investigators in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon killed one of the founding members of the hyperviolent Los Zetas cartel during a shootout as they tried to arrest him. The long-time crime boss and his security detail tried to fight off law enforcement in a fierce shootout.
The clash occurred early Tuesday morning in the town of Santiago, Nuevo Leon. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by state law enforcement sources, agents with the Nuevo Leon Attorney General’s Office were carrying out a raid at a luxurious ranch house when they came under fire. The agents fought off the attack, killing two gunmen and arresting two other individuals.
After the shootout ended, authorities were able to identify one of the gunmen as Zeferino “Don Zefe” Pena Cuellar, a founding member of Los Zetas and current ally of the Gulf Cartel. The other gunman who died in the clash has been identified as David Calderon, a former Mexican Army soldier who was Pena’s main bodyguard and head of his security detail. Nuevo Leon law enforcement sources revealed that Pena was currently operating in Nuevo Leon, where he was in the process of running a drug trafficking operation aimed at moving large quantities of drugs into Texas.
Pena proved to be an elusive crime boss, having been active since the 1990s when he helped recruit Arturo Guzman Decena and Heriberto Lazcano as the security detail of Gilberto “El June” Garcia Mena, a top leader with the Gulf Cartel and uncle to the current Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia. Various sources point to Pena having played a role in helping set up the capture of El June. The downfall of that crime boss allowed for the rise of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who brought in Decena and Lazcano to create Los Zetas as his personal security detail. Pena, who at the time was a police officer in Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, helped recruit military deserters for the creation of Los Zetas.
After becoming the target of cartel infighting, Pena was forced to keep a low profile for some time while resurfacing once in a while to continue operating within the drug business. For years, Pena managed to stay under the radar of law enforcement, but ultimately, AEI agents were able to track him down and kill him.
Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel are designated by the United States government as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with 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.
