This is a list of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords as published by Mexican federal authorities on 23 March 2009. According to a BBC Mundo Mexico report, the 37 drug lords "have jeopardized Mexico's national security." As of 8 January 2016, 25 drug lords have been captured, eight have been killed and four remain fugitives.
Contents
- Recent events
- 30 million pesos rewards
- Beltrn Leyva Cartel
- La Familia MichoacanaKnights Templar Cartel
- Gulf Cartel
- Jurez Cartel
- Sinaloa Cartel
- Tijuana Cartel
- Los Zetas
- 15 million pesos rewards
- References
The list of drug lords is grouped by their drug cartels. Mexico offers up to 30 million pesos (about 2.4 million U.S. dollars) for the capture of each of the fugitives. The United States also offers rewards for two of them. The most-wanted of the 37 drug lords was Joaquín Guzmán Loera, for whom Mexican and U.S. governments offered a total bounty of 7 million USD. He was captured on 22 February 2014 in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, where he was staying at a hotel. He escaped yet again on 11 July 2015 through a 1.5 kilometer long tunnel from his cell in the Mexican maximum security prison he had been housed in. Guzmán was recaptured by Mexican Marines following a gun battle on 8 January 2016.
Recent events
As of 18 January 2011, Mexico had captured or killed 20 of the 37 in the most-wanted list. The 21 June 2011 arrest of José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, a.k.a. "El Chango" (English: "The Monkey"), brought the total to twenty-one captured or killed. On 4 November 2011, Francisco Hernández García was captured bringing the total to 22 captured or killed. A leader of the Zetas drug cartel, Raúl Hernández Lechuga was captured on 12 December 2011, which brought the total to 23 captured or killed so far. On 26 September 2012, Iván Velázquez Caballero was captured by Mexican security forces, bringing the total captured or killed so far to 24. Then the 7 October 2012 killing of Heriberto Lazcano brought this total to 25 captured or killed so far.
On 15 July 2013, Miguel Treviño Morales was apprehended by the Mexican Marines in a town called Anáhuac, Nuevo León, near the border of the state of Tamaulipas, bringing the total captured or killed so far to 26. Then, the 27 January 2014 apprehension of Dionisio Loya Plancarte, a.k.a. "El Tío", brought the total captured or killed to 27, and leaving the Mexican government with 10 such fugitives still on the loose. On 23 June 2014, Fernando Sánchez Arellano was arrested by soldiers of the Mexican Army and federal agents of the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) at the La Mesa borough in Tijuana, Baja California, bringing the total captured or killed so far to 28. Héctor Beltrán Leyva was arrested by the Mexican Army on 1 October 2014 inside a restaurant in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, bringing the total captured or killed to 29.
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes was arrested by Mexican authorities in Torreón (Coahuila) on 9 October 2014, bringing the total captured or killed to 30. On 27 February 2015, Servando Gómez Martínez, the leader of the Knights Templar cartel, was arrested by Mexican security forces in Morelia, Michoacán, bringing the total captured or killed to 31. On 4 March 2015, Omar Treviño Morales was captured inside a residence in Fuentes del Valle, an upper-class neighborhood in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, by the Federal Police and the Mexican Army bringing the total captured or killed to 32. On 8 January 2016, Mexican Marines captured Joaquín Guzmán Loera after a heavy firefight in the town of Los Mochis (Sinaloa), bringing the total captured or killed to 33.
30 million pesos rewards
Mexico offers up to 30 million pesos (about 2.4 million U.S. dollars) for each of the following:
Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
La Familia Michoacana/Knights Templar Cartel
Gulf Cartel
Juárez Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
Tijuana Cartel
Los Zetas
15 million pesos rewards
Mexico offers 15 million pesos (about 1.2 million dollars) for each of the following: