When the Mexican Navy killed Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of the fearsome Los Zetas cartel who pioneered narco-terrorism in Mexico, in 2012, El Mencho was just beginning to emerge. He had helped weaken that group of elite ex-military personnel and was already plotting a break with the Sinaloa Cartel to launch his solo career.
By 2014, with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s second arrest, he was already running his own cartel, but thanks to maintaining a low profile, he had kept a surprisingly clean criminal record. During El Chapo’s definitive capture, he had even managed to shoot down a military helicopter with cannon fire and bring Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, to a standstill.
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Source: El Pais News
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