Mexico deports alleged leader of the Northeast Cartel to the US

Mexico City, 15 Mar The Mexican government deported to the United States on Tuesday the alleged leader of the Northeast Cartel (CDN), Juan Gerardo Treviño aka El Huevo, after his arrest on Monday in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on the border with Texas. Treviño, a key target for Washington, was a US citizen without Mexican nationality and his arrest resulted from an intelligence operation, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, head of the Secretariat of Citizen Security and Protection (SSPC), told a conference. “This is a definite blow to one of the most important criminal organizations in the northeast of the country, with influence in at least five states and with operations in the United States,” Rodríguez reported. Authorities claimed that there are three court orders on El Huevo, one in the state of Tamaulipas for extortion and criminal association; one in Coahuila for intentional homicide, kidnapping and terrorism, and a detention order for the purpose of extradition to the United States by criminal association to distribute cocaine and money laundering. Ricardo Mejia, deputy secretary of the SSPC, indicated that the deportation occurred because the subject violated immigration law by being in Mexico irregularly, but in Texas he faces arrest warrants on charges such as conspiracy, possession of firearms, and distribution of cocaine and marijuana. After his arrest in Nuevo Laredo, authorities took him by helicopter to Mexico City and then to Tijuana, where he was deported to the United States, whose Marshall police authorities arrested him at that time. In addition to leading the CDN, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in northeastern Mexico and responsible for the violence in that region, Treviño is alleged to be the leader of the group of hit men Tropas del Infierno, who would be heirs to the violent Los Zetas cartel. He is also allegedly responsible for the trafficking of drugs and undocumented immigrants, the SSPC said. His arrest occurred in flagrante after several months of intelligence work that culminated in an operation involving a 30-element operational base in Nuevo Laredo, said General Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Secretary of National Defense. His arrest sparked dozens of clashes between the CDN hit men and the Mexican Army on Monday in Nuevo Laredo, which forced the temporary closure of the international bridges that cross the neighboring country, as well as the United States consulate in the city. “Despite the fact that there were 22 attacks on military installations, 16 attacks on civilian installations and 13 road blockades. Despite this aggression activity, we do not have any injuries or deaths,” said the general. CHIEF ppc/mqb (photo) (video)