A federal judge stopped extradition to the United States of the former leader of the Los Zetas cartel, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, also known as the Z-40.
Through protection 51/2024, Diana Abraján Peña, head of the Second District Court for Amparo and Federal Trials based in the State of Mexico, granted a provisional suspension to prevent Treviño Morales from being transferred out of the country.
However, the prison authorities refused before the judge to seek to extradite Treviño Morales, but instead he was only taken to another prison.
In this regard, the authorities indicated that Treviño Morales “is currently being held in the Federal Center for Social Rehabilitation Four ‘Noreste’ in Rincón, Municipality of Tepic, Nayarit”.
He Z-40 He was arrested in Nuevo León in 2013 during an operation by the special forces of the Ministry of the Navy.
Who is Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales ‘El Z-40’ and what are they accusing him of?
According to the association InSight Crimewhich is dedicated to analyzing organized crime in Latin America, the Z-40 He was one of the first to defect and join the security arm of the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas.
Treviño Morales would have become the leader of the organization in October 2012, when Mexican security forces reported that they shot and killed Heriberto Lazcano, known as the Z-3.
According to investigations by the former Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (PGR), Treviño Morales was responsible for ordering the kidnapping and murder of 72 migrantswhose bodies were located in clandestine graves in the municipality of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, in 2010.
Likewise, he is linked to the disappearance of dozens of people in the so-called ‘Allende Massacre’, in Coahuila, which occurred from March 18 to 20, 2011, as well as the murder of José Eduardo Moreirason of the former governor of Coahuila, Humberto Moreira Valdés, on October 3, 2012.
How many times has ‘Z-40’ been saved from extradition?
Despite being identified as one of the most dangerous criminals on both sides of the border, he Z-40 He has not been extradited to the United States more than 10 years after his arrest.
In 2014, a federal court in New York began proceedings for his extradition, after adding murder charges and additional accusations of drug traffic against the leader of the Zetas. However, this did not prosper and, instead, Treviño Morales has been transferred from prison to prison on more than 15 occasions.
In July 2018, the agency AFP denied the versions that claimed that the Z-40 He had been transferred to US territory, as he indicated that it was only a change of prison.
“Sources from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) consulted by AFP assured that Treviño was not extradited to any country, but only transferred to the state of Jalisco, although they did not specify which prison. The version was confirmed by sources from the National Security Commission (CNS),” the agency reported.
A month later, national media reported that a federal judge in Jalisco granted a suspension to Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales to stop any attempt by Mexican authorities to extradite him to the United States.
The amparo, promoted before the Judicial Branch of the Federation by the defense of the drug trafficker, denounced a series of human rights violations by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the then PGR.
At the time of his arrest, Treviño Morales had a federal indictment in the District of Columbia since 2008, while the State Department of The United States offered a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to his arrest.
With information from Pedro Hiriart.
