Two leaders of Los Zetas Cartel and one of their top gunmen received a series of sentences for pending charges tied to their role in the kidnapping and murder of numerous migrants between 2010 and 2011 in San Fernando, Tamaulipas.
On Monday, a Mexican federal judge based in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, handed down three separate sentences to three ranking members of Los Zetas responsible for several massacres. These include the mass killing of 72 migrants in San Fernando in 2010. The judge set a 73-year sentence for Martin “El Kilo” Estrada Luna, a sentence of 82 years for Ricardo Roman “El Coyote” Palomo Rincones, and a sentence of 76 years for Juvenal “El Alacran” Burciaga Venegas.
According to information released by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the sentence for the three men was tied to the charges of engaging in organized crime, aggravated kidnapping, and corruption of minors. The three men received prior sentences for their other crimes and are part of a large group of Los Zetas cartel members that have been in Mexican custody since 2011.
In one of the crimes, the judge ruled that the three men were directly tied to one of the two San Fernando massacres. As Breitbart Texas reported, in August 2010, a group of Los Zetas gunmen intercepted 72 migrants headed for the border, took them to a ranch near San Fernando, killed them, and piled the bodies inside a warehouse. A 73rd migrant managed to survive while playing dead and escaped when he had the chance. The migrant was able to reach authorities who raided the ranch and found the bodies.
At the time of the massacre, Los Zetas had received information that their former allies turned mortal enemies with the Gulf Cartel had been recruiting migrants from various nationalities. Los Zetas began intercepting buses and groups of migrants and began killing those who seemed suspicious. The criminal organization buried those migrants in shallow graves in what became known as the second San Fernando massacre. Mexican authorities found an official 194 bodies in 47 mass graves. However, the actual death toll is believed to be much higher.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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