Siblings and former leaders of the Mexican cartel Zetas were arraigned in Washington, D.C., on Friday on charges related to murder, torture, kidnappings, drug trafficking, firearm possession, and money laundering.
“We will aggressively pursue and bring to justice in the United States violent transnational criminals and leaders of cartels and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad and for the large amounts of dangerous drugs that devastate our communities,” Supervisory Official Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement.
Miguel Trevino Morales, also known as Z-40, and Omar Trevino Morales, also known as Z-42, were the ex-leaders of Los Zetas, a violent cartel made up of former Mexican military officers that started as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel, the Department of Justice said.
In October 2012, Miguel Trevino Morales became the cartel’s leader until he was arrested in 2013. His brother Omar Trevino Morales then took over as leader of the group before he was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2015.
The brothers continued to lead the cartel despite being incarcerated in Mexico and renamed the group to Cartel del Noreste, continuing its unlawful activities of drug trafficking and violence.
FEDERAL WORKERS ORDERED TO RETURN TO WORK TO FIND THEMSELVES OFFICELESS
The DOJ designated CDN as a foreign terrorist organization. The brothers were among the 29 drug suspects that Mexico expelled to the U.S. last month. The Trump administration has taken aggressive actions against Mexican drug cartels and has even hinted at using the U.S. military to combat their influence.
The Morales brothers are each charged with one count of “continuing a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana for importation into the U.S., use of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crimes, and international money laundering conspiracy.”