welcome back to marshy's land. today's topic... i've been watching a lot of disturbed reality so we will go back to the channel's old videos covering the brutality of drug cartels in mexico. today's case is yet again from the war between the gulf cartel and los zetas, a war which raged on for five years from 2010 until 2015, when los zetas split and fractured into different organizations, one of which being cartel del noreste.

despite los zetas’ overwhelming firepower and manpower, it was the gulf cartel who finally won the war. their tactics of paramilitary SOO hyper violence and narco terrorism, while effective at battling rival drug cartels, would prove to be their undoing. the unprecedented levels of violence carried out by los zetas caught the attention of the mexican government and law enforcement. los zetas, not being the types to back down, openly challenged the mexican government in various states across mexico. but as years passed, more and more cartel leaders within the zetas were captured and arrested, which eventually led to the organization's fracture and split in 2015.


los zetas were originally formed in the late 1990s by the gulf cartel. the mid to late 90s were a turmoil-ish time for the gulfos. this was mainly due to longtime leader juan garcia abrego being captured in january of 1996. he was subsequently extradited to the usa shortly after. in turn, this created a power vacuum at the top of the golfo organization. many high up members were vying for power and to take control of the organization, one of these individuals being osiel cardenas. eventually, after much internal struggle, osiel cardenas took control of the gulf cartel in 1999, though many within the organization were unhappy with cardenas being the leader. in fact, his takeover was somewhat hostile. to gain full control of the organization, he assassinated close friend salvador gomez herrera, aka el chava, who was a co-leader of the gulf cartel. he earned the nickname mata amigos, which means friend killer.

in a bid to keep his leadership untouched, cardenas sought out members of the mexican army special forces to become the military armed wing of the gulf cartel. his goal was to protect himself from rival drug cartels and from the mexican military, as well as to perform vital functions as the leader of the most powerful drug cartel in mexico. among his first contacts was a man by the name of arturo guzman decena, a highly skilled army lieutenant who was reportedly asked by cardenas to look for the best men possible. consequently, arturo guzman decena deserted from the armed forces and brought more than 30 army deserters to form part of the new paramilitary wing of the gulf cartel. cardenas enticed them with salaries that were much higher than those of the mexican army. among the original army defectors were jaime gonzalez duran, jesus enrique rejon, and also roberto loscano. velazquez would become the leader of los zetas.

the creation of los zetas brought in a new era of drug trafficking in mexico, and little did cardenas know that he was creating the most violent drug cartel in the country. between 2001 and 2008, the organization of the gulf cartel and los zetas was collectively known as la compania, in english, the company. truth be told, los zetas were incredibly useful for the gulf cartel due to their military expertise and tactics. the zetas secured new drug routes for the gulf cartel, in particular in 2003, when the gulf cartel sent los zetas to tamaulipas to eradicate los chachos gang, who were a group of drug traffickers under the orders of the millennial cartel. by this point in time, osiel cardenas had entrusted los zetas with much responsibility, but time and time again they delivered.

things started to change, however, on the 14th of march 2003. then gulf cartel leader osiel cardenas was captured by authorities after a shootout in matamoros. at the time, cardenas was on the fbi top 10 most wanted list, and they offered a bounty of 2 million dollars for his capture. during his incarceration in mexico, cardenas managed to maintain control of the gulf cartel and more importantly los zetas. however, this changed in 2007 when cardenas was extradited to the usa. at this point in time, much like the late 90s, there was a power vacuum at the top of the gulf cartel. in conjunction with this, los zetas at the time had gained such a reputation that they felt they deserved a say in who would be the next gulf cartel boss. in fact, they wanted roberto loscano, zetas’ leader, to be the new boss of the gulf cartel. tensions grew between the gulf cartel and los zetas. then, in 2010, los zetas decided to go it alone. they no longer needed the gulf cartel. they had drug routes, they had influence, and they had manpower. naturally, the gulf cartel didn't take too kindly to this, and this marked the start of a war between los zetas and the golfo organization.

what made los zetas so powerful and so successful was their military expertise and tactics. however, in the late 90s, los zetas recruited a man by the name of miguel trevino morales, and unlike his zeta counterparts, miguel had no military background. despite this, as years passed, miguel, due to his ruthlessness and brutality, impressed his zeta commanders. he rose through the ranks of the organization, and then leader of the zetas, roberto lascano, entrusted miguel trevino morales with much responsibility. however, by the time 2010 rolled around, miguel trevino morales made a play to become the new leader of los zetas. although this created some internal infighting, the majority of zetas supported miguel. some say miguel trevino morales took full control of the zetas’ organization as early as 2010, whereas others say he actually took full control in 2012, when roberto lascano was gunned down by the mexican navy.

miguel trevino morales would go on to become arguably the most violent narco boss that mexico has ever seen. but who was miguel trevino morales? miguel angel trevino morales was born on the 18th of november 1970 in nuevo laredo, tamaulipas. his parents, rodolfo trevino and maria arcelia morales, created a large family with six daughters and seven sons, including miguel. like many families along the u.s.-mexico border, the trevino family traveled from mexico to the united states and vice versa, where they bought properties and opened several businesses. during miguel's early years, his family were relatively successful. however, miguel's father soon abandoned the family, forcing a young miguel to single-handedly raise the whole family. naturally, the abandonment of his father left him bitter and resentful. subsequently, miguel grew up in a lower-class neighborhood in nuevo laredo, and because of his family's financial struggles, he sought work. in particular, he would seek work from the wealthy. he would do chores such as mowing the lawn, gardening, cleaning cars, and cleaning gutters. it was honest work, but this is where miguel was introduced to the criminal underworld. turns out miguel did chores for the local drug dealer, hector manuel sauceda, who later became his mentor. hector was a high-ranking member of the gulf cartel.

shortly after, as a teenager, miguel began to work for a local gang by the name of los tejas, a gang that ran the criminal activities in his hometown of nuevo laredo. initially, he was given menial tasks such as washing cars, running errands, and stealing car parts in nuevo laredo. eventually, miguel trevino morales turned to the drug trade, starting with small-scale drug retail sales and smuggling. he was now making good money in nuevo laredo and grew a reputation of being a capable trafficker. trevino morales grew up disliking mexico's class disparity and developed so much resentment as to partially explain his violent behavior as an adult.

in the early 1990s, miguel trevino morales frequented dallas, texas, with his family. in 1993, he was apprehended in dallas county and charged with avoiding police arrest after he had tried to lose the cops in a police chase. he paid a 600 smth dollar fine and was subsequently released from the county prison. few details are known of trevino morales’ life in texas. the u.s. authorities believe he learned about power, money, and weapons, and the vast consumer market for illegal drugs while living in texas. they also believe that he perceived an anti-mexican bias among americans, especially towards mexican immigrants like him. however, trevino morales considered dallas a home from home because of his large family network that lived in the surrounding areas. according to u.s. investigators, the last time trevino morales visited the dallas area was 2005, where he entered the united states illegally.

after growing his reputation in his native nuevo laredo, miguel trevino morales was recruited by the gulf cartel and los zetas in the late 1990s. they hired him due to his experience moving contraband across the border, his fluent english, and his criminal contacts on both sides of the u.s.-mexico border. this allowed him to gain trust with then leader of the gulf cartel, osiel cardenas. upon working with los zetas, miguel was given the alias z-40.

around 2005, trevino morales became the regional boss of nuevo laredo, and he was in charge of fighting off the incursions of the sinaloa cartel, which was attempting to take control of the smuggling routes in the area. by 2006, the gulf cartel and los zetas managed to defeat the forces of the sinaloa cartel in nuevo laredo. sinaloa concentrated its efforts in northeastern mexico, becoming more dominant there. los zetas, at this point, started to expand into other criminal activities beyond drug trafficking. under trevino morales, the organization smuggled immigrants into the united states, carried out extortions and kidnappings, sold bootleg cds and dvds, and intimidated and killed residents who failed to cooperate with them.

trevino morales remained in charge of los zetas in the state of nuevo leon until march of 2007. he was reassigned to the coastal state of veracruz shortly after high-ranking zetas leader efrain teodoro torres, aka z14, was killed in a gun battle at a local horse race. by 2007, then leader of the gulf cartel, osiel cardenas, was extradited to the usa. it was around this time when los zetas started to push for independence from the gulf organization.

2008 would prove to be a pivotal year for miguel trevino morales. in february of that year, los zetas leader heriberto lazcano sent trevino morales along with a zetas squad to kill rival drug traffickers and take control of the drug trafficking routes in guatemala. reportedly, he carried out a military-like ambush that resulted in the death of the guatemalan drug lord juan jose leon ardon. an unnamed u.s. official said that trevino morales may have been the man who fired the bullet that killed the drug kingpin.

after the successful mission, trevino morales was appointed by roberto lascano as the national commander of los zetas, essentially the vice president, a position that was traditionally reserved for zetas members with a military background. in this position, trevino morales had a say in nearly all of the decisions los zetas made at a national level. in turn, this created some resentment among old generation commanders of los zetas, who unlike him had been in the mexican armed forces before turning to the drug trade.

by 2010, los zetas had split from the gulf cartel and were at war. at this time, in 2010, miguel trevino morales made his play for control and power, and by 2012 he was in charge of los zetas following the death of heriberto lascano. miguel trevino morales ruled with an iron fist. he bribed and intimidated officials to help maintain control and responded to any challenges to his authority or control with brutal violence.

miguel trevino morales was feared by everyone, and very few journalists dared to write about him. he was alleged to have a favorite torture method known as el guiso, which means in english "the stew," in which people are stuffed into an oil barrel, doused with gasoline or diesel fuel, and then set on fire to burn alive. his violent behavior gained him the notoriety of a cult figure. he reportedly survived gun battles unharmed. he avoided making alliances with anyone. he dismembered dozens of victims while they were still alive and dumped them, and he seemed unafraid to die.

los zetas’ members claimed that trevino morales enjoyed driving around in the city, pointing at people randomly and saying "kill this one" and "kill that one." a former hitman who worked for him told the press in 2013 that trevino morales could not sleep at night if he didn't kill somebody that day. he also said that the drug lord would ask his victims how they wanted to be killed. journalist alfredo corchado wrote in one of his books that trevino morales enjoyed eating the hearts of his victims even while they were still beating, because he believed that doing this would make him invincible among his enemies and authorities.

miguel trevino morales also reportedly coordinated several violent attacks throughout mexico, including the 2010 san fernando massacre where 72 migrants were murdered, as well as the 2011 san fernando massacre where a further 193 people were also killed. miguel's depravity had no limits. in fact, there's a rumor that miguel trevino morales killed a baby belonging to a rival cartel member. the method of murder which he used was to put the baby in a microwave. again, that rumor has never been corroborated, however, given the type of person that miguel was, i wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

under the leadership of miguel trevino morales, los zetas engaged in a fierce war with the gulf cartel. the levels of violence were unprecedented. ultimately, the rise of los zetas shifted the narco world into what we see today: hyper-violence, paramilitary tactics, and narco-terrorism. in the early 2010s, truth be told, los zetas were having great success in the war against the gulf cartel, but what they couldn't contend with was the pressure from law enforcement. high-level zetas commanders were being captured, and eventually on the 15th of july 2013, miguel trevino morales was apprehended by the mexican marines in nuevo leon, near the border of the tamaulipas state, at around 3:45 a.m. it is said that not a single shot was fired. miguel trevino morales, however, wasn't extradited to the usa. he is currently serving his time in a prison in michoacan.

following miguel's arrest, the pressure was on the zetas. miguel's brother omar would take over and run the organization, though he himself was arrested and captured in 2015. at this point in time, the organizational structure of the zetas was completely destroyed, and subsequently they splintered and fractured into different groups, the most notable one being cartel del noreste. in my opinion, when it comes to narco bosses, miguel trevino morales is certainly the most interesting. ultimately, he thrived in the narco world. his power and influence allowed him to express his barbaric tendencies.