The sibling ex-leaders of Mexico’s violent Zetas cartel were arraigned on Friday in the United States on charges including drug trafficking, firearm possession and money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Brothers Miguel and Omar Trevino Morales — aliases “Z-40” and “Z-42” — led one of Mexico’s most powerful and feared organized crime groups until its collapse.
They were among the 29 drug suspects that Mexico expelled to the United States last month, as it faces mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to tackle drug smuggling.
The brothers were arraigned in Washington “on charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that involved multiple murder conspiracies,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Their other charges included “conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the United States, using firearms — including a machine gun — during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes, and conspiring to launder monetary instruments.”
Zetas was founded by deserters from the Mexican special forces known for their brutality.
Eduardo Verdugo / AP
Miguel Trevino Morales led the Zetas until Mexican authorities arrested him in 2013, when his brother Omar took over until his arrest in 2015, the Department of Justice said.
“After their arrests, the defendants allegedly renamed Los Zetas to Cartel del Noreste (CDN) and continued to control the cartel while incarcerated in Mexico,” it added.
The State Department said last month it had designated CDN as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Washington accuses the two brothers of being “personally responsible” for committing dozens of murders and for directing killings, kidnappings and torture.
Both pleaded not guilty on Friday, and face the possibility of the death sentence if convicted, according to reporters at the hearing.
“As alleged, the defendants represent some of the world’s most vicious cartel leaders, who oversaw Los Zetas’ reign of terror with grotesque impunity and ruthlessness, and a sheer disregard for anything beyond their wealth, power, and control,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso of ICE Homeland Security Investigations New York said in a statement.
Among the other suspects expelled to the U.S. last month was Rafael Caro Quintero, who is wanted for the notorious killing of U.S. DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.
Last month, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum warned it will never tolerate an invasion of its national sovereignty by the United States, after Washington designated Mexican multiple drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
“This cannot be an opportunity for the U.S. to invade our sovereignty,” she said. “With Mexico it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been given a prominent role in the Trump administration, said on social media the designation on cartels “means they’re eligible for drone strikes.”
