Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
Encyclopedia
The Beltrán-Leyva Cartel (Beltrán Leyva Organization or BLO) (Spanish
: Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva or CBL) was a Mexican
drug cartel
and organized crime
syndicate founded by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo
, Carlos
, Alfredo
and Héctor
.
The cartel was responsible for cocaine
transportation and wholesaling, marijuana production and wholesaling, and heroin production and wholesaling. It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors, and engaged in human smuggling, money laundering
, extortion
, kidnapping
, murder
and gun-running.
, Alfredo
and Héctor
– worked closely with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
, during decades of smuggling. Sensing a void in the rival Gulf Cartel
after Osiel Cárdenas
' arrest on March 14, 2003, the Sinaloa Cartel began to move into Gulf Cartel territory. Both gangs fought each other in northern Mexican cities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including civilians, police and journalists. About 90% of the deaths are of drug traffickers.
In 2004 and 2005, Arturo Beltrán Leyva led powerful groups of assassins to fight for trade routes in northeastern Mexico for the Sinaloa Cartel. Through the use of corruption or intimidation, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel was able to infiltrate Mexico's political, judicial and police institutions to feed classified information about anti-drug operations, and even infiltrated the Interpol
office in Mexico.
The last cartel leader, Héctor Beltrán Leyva
, apparently has been inactive and remains a fugitive; the U.S.A. is offering a reward of USD $5 million for information leading to his arrest. while the Mexican government is offering a USD $2.1 million reward.
During 2010, a former Beltran-Leyva cartel liuetenant by the name of Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a: El Compayito), attempted to regroup some cartel remnants under a gang he called La Mano Con Ojos. García Montoya, however, was arrested on 11 April 2011; the Attorney General of Mexico had placed a $5 million peso ($400,000 USD) bounty for his capture. Mexican authorities stated that García Montoya was "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance".
on January 20, 2008, was a huge blow to the Sinaloa Cartel
, as he allegedly oversaw large-scale drug-smuggling operations and was a key money launderer
for the cartel. In apparent revenge
for the arrest of his brother Alfredo, Arturo ordered the assassination of the commissioner of the Federal Police, Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez
, and other top federal officials in the Mexican capital. One group of these hit men
was captured in a Mexico City
house with dozens of assault rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, 30 hand grenade
s, and bullet-proof jackets bearing the legend FEDA — the Spanish acronym for 'Special Forces of Arturo'. Apparently, the Beltrán Leyva brothers blamed their boss Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmán for their brother's arrest, and ordered the assassination of Guzmán's son, 22 year-old Édgar Guzmán López, which was carried out in a shopping center parking lot by at least 15 gunmen using assault rifles and grenade launchers
.
The residual impact of Alfredo’s arrest not only undermined long-term Sinaloa alliances, but resurrected animosities between rival cartel leaders Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán and Arturo’s new allies, the Juárez Cartel
, and provided the catalyst behind the bloodshed in Mexico’s most-violent city: Ciudad Juárez
. The Beltrán Leyva brothers, and those loyalists who departed the Sinaloa Cartel with them, allied with Los Zetas
, causing an escalation of conflict in strongholds shared uneasily by "old" Sinaloa leaders.
In February 2010, the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and los Zetas engaged in a violent turf war against the new alliance integrated by the Gulf Cartel
, Sinaloa Cartel
and La Familia Cartel in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, rendering some border towns "ghost towns".
Official reports from early 2010 revealed infighting for control of the cartel and its territory. One faction was led by lieutenants Édgar Valdez Villarreal and Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez
, while the other was led by Héctor Beltrán Leyva
and his lieutenant Sergio Villarreal Barragán
. On April 2010 Héctor Beltrán Leyva created a short-lived cell or branch in Morelos
state called South Pacific Cartel
(Cartel del Pacífico Sur) best known for having employed a 12-year-old gunman and executioner.
n cocaine supplier, Ever Villafane Martínez, was arrested in Morelos
in August 2008. After that, the organization pursued a relationship with Víctor and Darío Espinoza Valencia of Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel
.
is offering a $5 million USD reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Héctor Beltrán Leyva
.
On April 22, 2010, a cartel lieutenant Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez
was captured on the outskirts of Mexico city; the U.S. had been offering a $2 million U.S. bounty for his arrest. Edgar Valdez Villarreal was arrested on August 30, 2010 outside Mexico City. On September 12, 2010 Sergio Villarreal Barragán
was arrested in the city of Puebla, east of Mexico City. Héctor Beltrán Leyva
is still at large.
The April 11, 2011 arrest Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a: El Compayito), a cartel liuetenant, was called "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance".
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva or CBL) was a Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
and organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
syndicate founded by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo
Marcos Arturo Beltrán-Leyva
Arturo Beltrán Leyva was the leader of the Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, which is headed by the Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor. The cartel is responsible for cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine production,...
, Carlos
Carlos Beltrán Leyva
Carlos Beltrán Leyva is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. The cartel was created by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Héctor, Alfredo and Arturo...
, Alfredo
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva "whose nickname 'El Mochomo' refers to a desert ant" is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel.-Break away from the Sinaloa Cartel:...
and Héctor
Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.Héctor Beltrán Leyva is the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva , former leader of the cartel...
.
The cartel was responsible for cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
transportation and wholesaling, marijuana production and wholesaling, and heroin production and wholesaling. It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors, and engaged in human smuggling, money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and gun-running.
History
Born in the Sinaloan countryside in the 1960s, the Beltrán Leyva brothers – Marcos Arturo, CarlosCarlos Beltrán Leyva
Carlos Beltrán Leyva is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. The cartel was created by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Héctor, Alfredo and Arturo...
, Alfredo
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva "whose nickname 'El Mochomo' refers to a desert ant" is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel.-Break away from the Sinaloa Cartel:...
and Héctor
Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.Héctor Beltrán Leyva is the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva , former leader of the cartel...
– worked closely with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Joaquín Guzmán
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera nicknamed "El Chapo" for his stature, is a Mexican drug lord who heads Mexico's and the world's largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization referred to as the Sinaloa Cartel, named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was initially...
, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
, during decades of smuggling. Sensing a void in the rival Gulf Cartel
Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country...
after Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
' arrest on March 14, 2003, the Sinaloa Cartel began to move into Gulf Cartel territory. Both gangs fought each other in northern Mexican cities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including civilians, police and journalists. About 90% of the deaths are of drug traffickers.
In 2004 and 2005, Arturo Beltrán Leyva led powerful groups of assassins to fight for trade routes in northeastern Mexico for the Sinaloa Cartel. Through the use of corruption or intimidation, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel was able to infiltrate Mexico's political, judicial and police institutions to feed classified information about anti-drug operations, and even infiltrated the Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
office in Mexico.
The last cartel leader, Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.Héctor Beltrán Leyva is the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva , former leader of the cartel...
, apparently has been inactive and remains a fugitive; the U.S.A. is offering a reward of USD $5 million for information leading to his arrest. while the Mexican government is offering a USD $2.1 million reward.
During 2010, a former Beltran-Leyva cartel liuetenant by the name of Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a: El Compayito), attempted to regroup some cartel remnants under a gang he called La Mano Con Ojos. García Montoya, however, was arrested on 11 April 2011; the Attorney General of Mexico had placed a $5 million peso ($400,000 USD) bounty for his capture. Mexican authorities stated that García Montoya was "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance".
Switch of alliances
The arrest of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva (a.k.a.: El Mochomo)Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva "whose nickname 'El Mochomo' refers to a desert ant" is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel.-Break away from the Sinaloa Cartel:...
on January 20, 2008, was a huge blow to the Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
, as he allegedly oversaw large-scale drug-smuggling operations and was a key money launderer
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
for the cartel. In apparent revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
for the arrest of his brother Alfredo, Arturo ordered the assassination of the commissioner of the Federal Police, Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez
Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez
Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez was a third-ranking member of Mexico's Secretariat of Public Security and acting commissioner of the Federal Preventive Police. Born in Mexico City, he received a law degree from the Universidad del Valle de México. After graduating he started his career in the Mexican...
, and other top federal officials in the Mexican capital. One group of these hit men
Contract killing
Contract killing is a form of murder, in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for consideration, monetary, or otherwise. The hiring party may...
was captured in a Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
house with dozens of assault rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, 30 hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s, and bullet-proof jackets bearing the legend FEDA — the Spanish acronym for 'Special Forces of Arturo'. Apparently, the Beltrán Leyva brothers blamed their boss Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmán for their brother's arrest, and ordered the assassination of Guzmán's son, 22 year-old Édgar Guzmán López, which was carried out in a shopping center parking lot by at least 15 gunmen using assault rifles and grenade launchers
M203 grenade launcher
The M203 is a single shot 40 mm grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilize the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low. Though versatile, and compatible with many rifle models, the M203 was...
.
The residual impact of Alfredo’s arrest not only undermined long-term Sinaloa alliances, but resurrected animosities between rival cartel leaders Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán and Arturo’s new allies, the Juárez Cartel
Juárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel , also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas...
, and provided the catalyst behind the bloodshed in Mexico’s most-violent city: Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
. The Beltrán Leyva brothers, and those loyalists who departed the Sinaloa Cartel with them, allied with Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
, causing an escalation of conflict in strongholds shared uneasily by "old" Sinaloa leaders.
In February 2010, the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and los Zetas engaged in a violent turf war against the new alliance integrated by the Gulf Cartel
Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country...
, Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
and La Familia Cartel in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, rendering some border towns "ghost towns".
Official reports from early 2010 revealed infighting for control of the cartel and its territory. One faction was led by lieutenants Édgar Valdez Villarreal and Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez
Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez
José Gerardo Álvarez-Vázquez is a Mexican drug trafficker who worked for the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and then for Édgar Valdez Villarreal's criminal organization known as Los Negros...
, while the other was led by Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.Héctor Beltrán Leyva is the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva , former leader of the cartel...
and his lieutenant Sergio Villarreal Barragán
Sergio Villarreal Barragán
Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán a.k.a. El Grande, , is a former Mexican federal police officer who then worked as a lieutenant for Héctor Beltrán Leyva of the criminal organisation called the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. He got his name El Grande because he is tall.-Biography:In 1990 at age 20, he was...
. On April 2010 Héctor Beltrán Leyva created a short-lived cell or branch in Morelos
Morelos
Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....
state called South Pacific Cartel
South Pacific Cartel
The South Pacific Cartel , is a Mexican gang that originated in the Mexican state of Morelos.Although they call themselves a 'cartel', the gang is a local cell created on April 2010 by Héctor Beltrán Leyva, leader of the Beltran Leyva Cartel. The gang is known for having employed a 12-year-old...
(Cartel del Pacífico Sur) best known for having employed a 12-year-old gunman and executioner.
Assets
The cartel's assets included:- Dominance over drug and other illegal activities at airports in Mexico, Monterrey, Toluca, Cancún, and Acapulco;
- Hotels and restaurants constructed to launder money in Cancún, Acapulco, Cozumel, and other resorts;
- A working agreement with Los ZetasLos ZetasLos Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
. - Supply corridors for moving marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine from the Andes to the Arctic;
- Capability to extort, launder money, run guns, smuggle humans, promote prostitution and carry out kidnappings;
- Operations in Mexico City, Chiapas, Guerrero Mexico State, Morelos, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Tamaulipas, as well as in the United States and Canada;
- Access to some high-ranking public figures and Army personnel whom they bribed or intimidated.
Former suppliers
The Beltrán Leyva brothers’ ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n cocaine supplier, Ever Villafane Martínez, was arrested in Morelos
Morelos
Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....
in August 2008. After that, the organization pursued a relationship with Víctor and Darío Espinoza Valencia of Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel
Norte del Valle Cartel
The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, is a drug cartel that operates principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia...
.
Bounty
The United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is offering a $5 million USD reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.Héctor Beltrán Leyva is the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva , former leader of the cartel...
.
Captures
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva was captured on January 20, 2008, Arturo was killed by Mexican Marines in a shoot-out on December 16, 2009. Carlos Beltrán Leyva was captured by the Mexican Federal Police on December 30, 2009, in Culiacán, Sinaloa after showing authorities a fake driver's license.On April 22, 2010, a cartel lieutenant Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez
Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez
José Gerardo Álvarez-Vázquez is a Mexican drug trafficker who worked for the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and then for Édgar Valdez Villarreal's criminal organization known as Los Negros...
was captured on the outskirts of Mexico city; the U.S. had been offering a $2 million U.S. bounty for his arrest. Edgar Valdez Villarreal was arrested on August 30, 2010 outside Mexico City. On September 12, 2010 Sergio Villarreal Barragán
Sergio Villarreal Barragán
Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán a.k.a. El Grande, , is a former Mexican federal police officer who then worked as a lieutenant for Héctor Beltrán Leyva of the criminal organisation called the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. He got his name El Grande because he is tall.-Biography:In 1990 at age 20, he was...
was arrested in the city of Puebla, east of Mexico City. Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva
Héctor Beltrán Leyva is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.Héctor Beltrán Leyva is the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva , former leader of the cartel...
is still at large.
The April 11, 2011 arrest Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a: El Compayito), a cartel liuetenant, was called "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance".