Rogelio González Pizaña (1 March 1974 – 6 December 2015), commonly referred to by his alias Z-2 and/or El Kelín, was a Mexican former drug lord and one of the founders of

Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscr ...

, a criminal organization originally formed by ex-commandos from the

Mexican Armed Forces The Mexican Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de México) are the military forces of the United Mexican States. The Spanish crown established a standing military in colonial Mexico in the eighteenth century. After Mexican independence in 1821, ...

. Unlike the rest of the founders of Los Zetas, however, he did not serve in the Mexican Armed Forces before joining the drug trade.

Criminal career

Rogelio González Pizaña was born in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 1 March 1974. In the late 1990s, the Gulf Cartel leader

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (born 18 May 1967) 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 comp ...

, fearing his rivals, decided to form an elite armed squadron to protect him. The group, which became known as

, was mostly composed of former members of the

. Some of the members, including their founder

Arturo Guzmán Decena Arturo Guzmán Decena (13 January 1976 – 21 November 2002), also known by his code name Z-1, was a Mexican Army Special Forces officer and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. He defected from the military in ...

(alias "Z1"), deserted from the Mexican Special Forces

Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales The Mexican Special Forces Corps ( es, Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales) are the special forces battalions of the Mexican Army. Formerly the Special Forces Airmobile Group ( es, Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales) or GAFE, the SF corps has six ...

(GAFE) to work for the drug lord. González Pizaña was the second-in-command of Los Zetas, just behind Guzmán Decena. The third-in-command was

Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (25 December 1974 – 7 October 2012), commonly referred to by his aliases Z-3 and El Lazca, was a Mexican drug lord and the leader of Los Zetas drug cartel. He was one of the most-wanted Mexican drug lords. Lazcano ...

(alias "Z3"). Los Zetas, under the command of the three men, led covert operations in northern Mexico to decimate rival drug cartel members and to consolidate the Gulf Cartel as the leading criminal organization on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

Kingpin Act sanction

On 24 March 2010, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

sanctioned González Pizaña under the

Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, better known as the Kingpin Act, is landmark federal legislation in the United States intended to address international narcotics trafficking by imposing United States sanctions on foreign persons ...

(sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act"), for his involvement in drug trafficking along with fifty-three other international criminals and ten foreign entities. The act prohibited U.S. citizens and companies from doing any kind of business activity with him, and virtually froze all his assets in the U.S.

Arrest and sentence

He was arrested by federal agents and members of the now-extinct Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP) in

Matamoros, Tamaulipas Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and the municipal seat of the homonymous municipality. It is on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from ...

on 29 October 2004. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on 21 January 2014.

Release

On 30 August 2014, González Pizaña was released from prison. This occurred because a court in Guadalajara, Jalisco decided to change his original 16-year sentence given by a court in Toluca, State of Mexico with a new one. The new sentence was of 6 years and 3 days in prison (prison time he had already served since his arrest). Despite his release, the DEA still maintains an open investigation on González Pizaña for his involvement in drug trafficking and for threatening two U.S. federal agents in Matamoros in 1999.

Death

On 6 December 2015, González Pizaña was killed along with his family in Matamoros by suspected members of the Gulf Cartel.

References