47 People of the Mexican Drug War

José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa, commonly referred to by his alias "El Chino Ántrax", was a Mexican suspected drug lord, professional hitman, and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal organization based in Sinaloa.

Martín Arzola Ortega, commonly referred to by his alias "El 53", was a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He worked under Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the alleged top leader of the CJNG. Arzola Ortega began his criminal career in 1998 as a cargo truck thief and eventually joined the Milenio Cartel, the predecessor group of the CJNG. After several of his bosses were arrested and/or killed, he founded the CJNG with other defectors in the 2010s.

Sandra Ávila Beltrán is a Mexican drug cartel leader, dubbed "La Reina del Pacífico" by the media. She was arrested on September 28, 2007, and was charged with organized crime and conspiracy to drug trafficking. Some charges were later dropped but she was still held on possession of illegal weapons and money laundering, pending her extradition to the United States. On August 10, 2012, she was extradited to the United States to answer to criminal charges by the U.S. government.

Gilberto Barragán Balderas is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He joined the cartel in the late 1990s and was a trusted enforcer of kingpin Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez. Barragán Balderas was the regional boss of Miguel Alemán and helped coordinate international drug trafficking shipments from South and Central America to Mexico and the U.S. His role in the cartel also included providing them with information on the movement and location of Mexican security forces to ensure safe passage of their cocaine and marijuana shipments. In 2008, an indictment issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia detailing his criminal activities was unsealed in court.

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, commonly referred to by his alias El Mochomo, is a convicted Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. Beltrán Leyva was responsible for smuggling multi-ton shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States from Mexico and South America between the 1990s and 2000s. He worked alongside his brothers Héctor, Carlos, and Arturo.

José Francisco Blake Mora was a Mexican lawyer and politician who served as the Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of Felipe Calderón from 2010 to 2011. He was Mexico's top cabinet secretary and key figure in the battle against the drug cartels and corruption in the country. Blake Mora was also an important official in the dialogues of Felipe Calderón's drug policy, where he constantly traveled to meet with governors and victims of the drug war.

Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, commonly referred to by his alias Tony Tormenta, was a Mexican drug lord and co-leader of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in Tamaulipas. He headed the criminal group along with Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez. Antonio was considered by Mexican security forces as one of Mexico's most-wanted men.

Mario Alberto Cárdenas Guillén is a former leader of the Mexican criminal group called the Gulf Cartel. He is the brother of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén and Antonio Cárdenas Guillén.

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén is a Mexican drug lord and the former leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's friend and competitor Salvador Gómez, after the former's arrest in 1996. As confrontations with rival groups heated up, Osiel Cárdenas sought and recruited over 30 deserters from the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales to form the cartel's armed wing. Los Zetas served as the hired private mercenary army of the Gulf Cartel.

Rafael Cárdenas Vela is a former Mexican drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel. He is the nephew of Antonio and Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, two men who at one time led the criminal organization.

Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez, commonly referred to by his alias Ojo de Vidrio, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He is the son-in-law of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the CJNG and one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. He was reportedly responsible for managing money laundering schemes for the CJNG.

Rafael Cedeño Hernández is an imprisoned Mexican drug trafficker who was a high-level leader of La Familia Michoacana, a drug cartel based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. He was the successor of Alberto Espinoza Barrón, a drug trafficker who was arrested on 31 December 2008 by the Mexican authorities.

Division General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda is a retired Mexican Army officer. He served as the Secretary of National Defense in the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto from 2012 to 2018.

Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, is a former Mexican drug lord and top leader of the criminal drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. He was among Mexico's most-wanted drug lords.

Juan Carlos de la Cruz Reyna is a Mexican convicted criminal and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was also a senior member in Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's former paramilitary group. In the 1990s, de la Cruz Reyna was an officer in the Tamaulipas State Police while working as a hitman for the Gulf Cartel. After he left the agency in 1999, he became a bodyguard for former Gulf Cartel kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, and was eventually promoted to regional leader of the cartel in Tampico. He reportedly had policemen on his payroll, and managed international drug trafficking shipments from Central and South America.

Alberto Espinoza Barrón is a former Mexican drug trafficker and lieutenant of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.

Samuel Flores Borrego was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel. He was a former state judicial policeman who protected the ex-leader of the Gulf cartel, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. Upon his arrest, Flores Borrego became the right-hand man of Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, the former leader of the criminal organization.

Abigael González Valencia, commonly referred to by his alias El Cuini, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He was also the head of Los Cuinis, an organization allied to the CJNG. Along with his brother-in-law Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, one of Mexico's most-wanted men, González Valencia reportedly coordinated international drug trafficking operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He was also responsible for managing the financial operations of the CJNG and Los Cuinis.

Elvis González Valencia, commonly referred to by his alias El Elvis, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Los Cuinis, two allied criminal groups based in Jalisco. He was reportedly responsible for managing international drug trafficking operations and money laundering schemes under his brother Abigael González Valencia and brother-in-law Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.

Gerardo González Valencia is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He is part of a clan that heads a CJNG money laundering branch known as Los Cuinis. He was allegedly responsible for coordinating international money laundering schemes by using shell companies to purchase assets in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. His wife Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo was reportedly working with him on this large money laundering scheme when the couple moved from Mexico to Uruguay in 2011.

José González Valencia is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He is part of a clan that heads a CJNG money laundering branch known as Los Cuinis. Since 2015, González Valencia reportedly held a leading role within the CJNG as the security chief of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the top leader of the criminal group. Security forces in the U.S. and Mexico suspect he was also responsible for coordinating drug trafficking operations from Mexico to the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Rosalinda González Valencia is a Mexican businesswoman and suspected money launderer of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. She is married to Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, Mexico's most-wanted man and the CJNG leader. Born in rural Michoacán, Rosalinda grew up in a family of 18 siblings and was the eldest of her sisters. Her family originally grew avocados, but eventually turned to cultivating marijuana and opium poppy. In the 1970s, her family formed the Milenio Cartel, the predecessor group of the CJNG, and began trafficking narcotics from Mexico to the United States.

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, commonly known as "El Chapo" because of his 168 cm stature, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been the most powerful drug trafficker in the world.

Otto Roberto Herrera García is a Guatemalan national and career criminal, best known for turning Guatemala into a corridor for U.S.-bound cocaine.

Julián Leyzaola is a former Mexican military officer and former police chief and public safety secretary of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He became the new top cop in Ciudad Juárez after serving as the state police chief of Baja California, and is "credited with cleaning up Tijuana" from the drug violence. In the border city of Tijuana, Leyzaola launched "a crackdown on organized crime and police corruption," resulting in multiple assassination plots by the cartels. His law enforcement achievements cost him dearly as he was shot and paralyzed while returning from a trip in Mexico.

Jorge Luis Mendoza Cárdenas, commonly referred to by his alias La Garra, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. Security forces suspect that La Garra heads the drug trafficking operations for the CJNG in the United States under Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the top leader of the criminal group. La Garra reportedly coordinates marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine shipments to Los Angeles, San Jose, Atlanta, and New York City from Mexico.

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, commonly referred to by his criminal alias El Chapo Isidro, is a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He is also the alleged leader of Los Mazatlecos and was right-hand man of the now deceased drug lord Héctor and the incarcerated Alfredo Beltrán Leyva. The FBI is offering a USD $5 million bounty.

Raúl Meza Ontiveros, commonly referred to by his alias "El M6", was a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He was the right-hand man of Javier Torres Félix, the former leading operator of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. In 1997, he was arrested with several of his accomplices in Cancún in possession of 348 kilograms (767 lb) of Colombian cocaine. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, but was released in 1998 for inconsistencies in the case. Investigators suspected that he rejoined organized crime after his release and climbed up the leadership chain of the Sinaloa Cartel.

César Raúl Meza Torres, commonly referred to by his alias "El Mini 6", was a Mexican suspected assassin of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He was the son of Raúl Meza Ontiveros, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. By the age of 15, Meza Torres aspired to be like his father and became involved in organized crime. He was popular on social media for posing in pictures with his weapons and for following his father's footsteps. Meza Torres' pictures later served as inspiration for other teenagers aspiring to join organized crime in Mexico.

Alex wendel diciunas dos anjos, commonly referred to by his alias El Chayo and/or El Más Loco, was a Mexican drug lord who headed La Familia Michoacana before heading the Knights Templar Cartel, a drug cartel headquartered in the state of Michoacán. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords.

Joselyn Alejandra Niño, commonly referred to by her alias La Flaca, was a Mexican suspected assassin of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. She gained popularity on social media on 5 January 2015, when an anonymous person uploaded a picture of her posing with a firearm in an organized crime leak page. The post identified her as a Gulf Cartel member based out of Río Bravo. As a foot soldier, she was responsible for fighting off cells of Los Metros, a rival faction of Los Ciclones, a Gulf Cartel subgroup she belonged to.

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. His brother is Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the CJNG and one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. In Mexico, he was formally charged in 2015 for drug trafficking and being in possession of military-exclusive firearms.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, commonly referred to by his alias El Mencho, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He is the most-wanted criminal in Mexico and one of the most-wanted in the U.S. Both governments are offering up to MXN$30 million and US$10 million, respectively, for information that leads to his arrest.

Rubén Oseguera González, commonly referred to by his alias El Menchito, is a U.S.-born Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He is the son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, Mexico's most-wanted man. Under his father, he allegedly worked as the CJNG's second-in-command and managed international drug trafficking operations. Oseguera González was first arrested in January 2014 in Jalisco, but was released in October for lack of evidence and re-arrested immediately as he walked out of prison. He was then released again in December after a judge considered the evidence against him as insufficient. In June 2015, Oseguera González was arrested again, released a month later, and re-arrested as his release order was made official. His legal case has highlighted the growing tensions and deficiencies between prosecutors and judges in Mexico.

Horst Walther Overdick-Mejía, alias El Tigre, is a former Guatemalan drug lord and associate of the Mexican criminal group known as Los Zetas. He is known for helping Los Zetas cement their power in northern Guatemala. He was considered by the authorities as "one of the most prolific" drug lords in the country of Guatemala. He was arrested on 3 April 2012 in San Lucas, Guatemala.

Héctor Luis Palma Salazar is a former Mexican drug trafficker and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. After the brutal murder of his young family ordered by rival cartel members, Palma engaged in a string of vicious crimes to avenge his lost ones. Palma was arrested on June 23, 1995, and extradited to the United States where he served a jail sentence until June 2016. He was then deported back to Mexico and charged with a double homicide for having murdered two Nayarit police officers back in 1995. Palma is currently incarcerated at the Altiplano Prison, near Mexico City.

Enrique Plancarte Solís was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a drug cartel headquartered in the state of Michoacán. Prior to his tenure in the Knights Templar, he was a top leader of the split-off group La Familia Michoacana.

Alejandro Poiré Romero is a Mexican politician who served as the Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of Felipe Calderón from 17 November 2011 to 1 December 2012, following the death of Francisco Blake Mora in a helicopter crash on 11 November 2011.

Eduardo "Richolm" Ravelo is a Mexican American gangster who was a leader of the Barrio Azteca gang. He is also a former fugitive wanted on several charges related to drugs and organized crime. On October 20, 2009, he was named by the FBI as the 493rd fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. He was captured in Mexico on June 26, 2018.

Admiral Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz is a Mexican Navy officer who served as the Secretary of the Navy.

Mariano Francisco Saynez Mendoza was an admiral in the Mexican Navy.

Misael Torres Urrea, commonly referred to by his alias "El M2", is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He is the son of Javier Torres Félix, a former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel who worked under Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of Mexico's most-wanted men. In addition to his involvement in organized crime, he held a government post as syndic for a rural community in Cosalá, Sinaloa. He was the only candidate to run for this position, and held the role for less than a year.

José Treviño Morales is a Mexican former money launderer for Los Zetas, a Mexican criminal organization. He is the brother of the former Zetas leaders Omar Treviño Morales and Miguel Treviño Morales. In 2008, Treviño funded a horserace operation in Oklahoma with money he made through money laundering. Nonetheless, he was arrested by the FBI along with seven others in a horse-breeding ranch in Lexington, Oklahoma on 12 June 2012. He was found guilty of money laundering on May 2013, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a U.S. federal court in September of that same year.

Edgar Valdez Villarreal, also known as La Barbie, is a Mexican-American former drug lord and formerly a high-ranking lieutenant of the now disbanded Beltrán Leyva Cartel. Valdez is currently serving a 49 year prison sentence at USP Coleman II in Florida.

Érick Valencia Salazar, commonly referred to by his alias El 85, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high ranking leader in the Nueva Plaza Cartel. He previously served as a high-ranking leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. The Mexican Army suspects he was responsible for supervising the CJNG's cocaine and ephedrine delivery shipments from Colombia and China to Mexico, and for coordinating attacks against rival groups like La Resistencia and Los Zetas in the 2010s. Before leading the CJNG, El 85 reportedly held a leadership role within the Milenio Cartel, the predecessor group where the CJNG originated from. When several of his superiors were arrested and/or killed, El 85 and several others from the Milenio Cartel reportedly formed the CJNG.

Víctor Manuel Vázquez Mireles is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Vázquez Mireles joined the cartel during the 1990s and was a trusted enforcer of former kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. He started his career in the cartel as one of his bodyguards and was eventually placed in charge of operations in Tamaulipas and Veracruz. He was reportedly responsible for supervising the purchase of drugs intended to be smuggled into the U.S. for distribution and for arranging the assistance of corrupt law enforcement officials in the cartel's operations.

René Velázquez Valenzuela was a Mexican suspected hitman and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. According to security forces, Velázquez was a senior member within Los Ántrax, one of the Sinaloa Cartel's assassin squads responsible for fighting rival gangs, guarding drug shipments, and protecting the family of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of Mexico's most-wanted men. He was commonly referred to by his aliases "El Sargento Phoenix", "El Gato Negro", and "El Talibán". Velázquez was known for his long beard and shaved head.