On Tuesday, Zeferino Peña, alias “Don Zefe”, was killed by police in Nuevo León. He is identified as one of the founders of Los Zetas and a former leader of the Gulf Cartel. “Don Zefe” was killed during a confrontation with state police, in which another man also lost his life and two people were detained, including a woman. Additionally, one police officer was injured, the Nuevo León Prosecutor's Office stated in a press release. The events occurred in the municipality of Santiago, in southern Nuevo León, when officers were conducting investigation and intelligence work. Upon arriving at a property, the police were attacked by armed men, and while repelling the aggression, they mortally wounded Peña. The other deceased was identified as David Calderón, a former member of the Mexican army. The state Prosecutor's Office specified that “Don Zefe” was allegedly linked to activities related to the trafficking and distribution of narcotics in Nuevo León, as well as with the intention of forming a criminal group in the state. The detainees were handed over to the Public Ministry to determine their responsibilities, while various firearms and doses of narcotics were seized at the scene.
Brief history of the Zetas
Zeferino Peña Cuéllar “El Zefe” is identified in Sedena documents as one of the main leaders of the Gulf/Zetas organization, along with commanders such as Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano “El Lazca”, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales “El 40” and Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar “El Mamito”. The “Los Zetas” organization was born in the late 1990s. By the end of 2009, the “Company,” as the Gulf/Zetas organization was also called, was led by Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén “Tony Tormenta” (brother of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén), Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez “El Coss”, and Mario Cárdenas Guillén “Don Mario”.
At the beginning of 1997, the Federal government commissioned military elements from the Special Forces Air Mobile Groups (GAFE) of the Secretariat of National Defense to the Attorney General's Office, as active elements of the then Federal Judicial Police. Their objective was to support the fight against criminal organizations. The elements assigned to the state of Tamaulipas were given the code “ZETA,” a distinctive they used to operate without being identified.**
Information: EFE.* Source: Guacamaya Leaks.
The development of their functions initially allowed them to learn the operational methods of the state's criminal organizations and later to infiltrate the organization's structure through the recruitment promoted by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. Following the arrest of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén on March 14, 2003, they adopted the strategy of dispersing into small cells.
