The Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO), also known as the Beltrán Leyva Cartel (, , CBL), was a Mexican

drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...

and

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

syndicate, formerly headed by the five Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos,

Alfredo Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon name Alfred (name), Alfred and a common Italian language, Italian, Galician language, Galician, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. Given name Artists a ...

, Mario Alberto, and Héctor. Founded as a Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltrán Leyva cartel was responsible for transportation and wholesaling of cocaine, heroin and marijuana (and the production of the last two). It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors, and engaged in

human smuggling People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and gun-running. The BLO was one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels, which had effectively infiltrated the ranks of various Mexican government agencies and Mexico's

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. Its last known leader,

Héctor Beltrán Leyva Héctor Manuel Beltrán Leyva (15 February 1962 – 18 November 2018) was a Mexicans, Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, a drug-trafficking organization. He was the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva (deceased), former le ...

, was arrested in October 2014, having had a multimillion-dollar bounty placed on him by the governments of both the United States and Mexico. On August 11, 2011 the capture of one of the cartel's former top lieutenants, called "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance", prompted Mexican authorities to declare the cartel disbanded and extinct.

History

Born in the

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

n countryside in the 1960s, the Beltrán Leyva brothers—

Arturo Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People * Arturo Alessandri (1868–1950), Chilean politician and president * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, bo ...

, Carlos,

, Mario Alberto and Héctor—worked closely with their cousin,

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo", is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán is believed to be responsible for the deaths of over 34,000 people, ...

, the leader of the Cartel, during decades of smuggling. Sensing a void in the rival

Gulf Cartel The Gulf Cartel ( , or ''Golfos'') is a criminal syndicate, Drug cartel, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently bas ...

after Osiel Cárdenas' arrest on March 14, 2003, the organization began to move into Gulf Cartel territory. The gangs fought each other in northern Mexican cities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including some civilians, police and journalists. In 2004 and 2005, Arturo Beltrán Leyva led powerful groups of assassins to fight for trade routes in northeastern Mexico for the Cartel. Through the use of corruption or intimidation, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel was able to infiltrate Mexico's political, judicial and police institutions to feed classified information about anti-drug operations, and even infiltrated the

office in Mexico. During 2010, former Beltran Leyva cartel lieutenant Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a. ''El Compayito'') attempted to regroup some cartel remnants under a gang he called ''La Mano Con Ojos''. García Montoya was arrested on August 11, 2011; the Attorney General of Mexico had placed a 5million pesos (US$400,000) bounty for his capture. Mexican authorities stated that García Montoya was "the last Beltrán-Leyva link of any importance", and that the cartel has been disbanded. Allied forces of

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

and Beltrán-Leyva remnants clashed on April 28, 2012 with gunmen of the organization in the Choix mountains. At least 32 armed men were confirmed dead. The renewed fighting in Sinaloa state between the BLO and the Cartel is supposedly sparked by the incursion of the Cartel and its allies in

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, Texas, Laredo, United States. The 2010 census popula ...

, traditionally the biggest Zeta stronghold. The last cartel leader,

, was captured on October 1, 2014 while eating at a popular restaurant in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. The U.S. was offering a reward of US$5million for information leading to his arrest. while the Mexican government was offering a US$2.1million reward.

Switch of alliances

The arrest of Beltrán Leyva Organization leader

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva Alfredo Beltrán Leyva (born January 21, 1971), commonly referred to by his alias El Mochomo (The Desert Ant), is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He was one of Mexic ...

(a.k.a. ''El Mochomo'') (" The Desert Ant") on January 20, 2008, was a huge blow to the organization, as he allegedly oversaw large-scale drug-smuggling operations and was a key money launderer for the cartel. In apparent

revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

for the arrest of his brother Alfredo, Arturo ordered the assassination of the commissioner of the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

, Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez, and other top federal officials in the Mexican capital. One group of these hit men was captured in a

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

house with dozens of

assault rifles An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate-rifle cartridge and a detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer ''Special Forces Foreign Weapons Handbook'', ...

, pistols, grenade launchers, 30

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s, and bullet-proof jackets bearing the legend FEDA—the Spanish acronym for 'Special Forces of Arturo'. Apparently, the Beltrán Leyva brothers blamed their partner and cousin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán for their brother's arrest, and in retaliation ordered the assassination of Guzmán's son, 22-year-old Édgar Guzmán López, which was carried out in a shopping center parking lot by at least 15 gunmen using assault rifles and

grenade launchers A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mo ...

. The residual impact of Alfredo's arrest not only undermined long-term alliances, but resurrected animosities between rival cartel leaders Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán and Arturo's new allies, the

Juárez Cartel The Juárez Cartel (, ), also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of several drug trafficking ...

, and provided the catalyst behind the bloodshed in Mexico's most-violent city:

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

. The Beltrán Leyva brothers, and those loyalists who departed the Cartel with them, allied with

, causing an escalation of conflict in strongholds shared uneasily by "old" leaders. In February 2010, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel and

engaged in a violent turf war against the new alliance integrated by the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...

and La Familia Cartel in the border city of

Reynosa, Tamaulipas Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico which also holds the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAlle ...

, rendering some border towns "ghost towns". Official reports from early 2010 revealed infighting for control of the cartel and its territory. One faction was led by lieutenants

Édgar Valdez Villarreal Edgar Valdez Villarreal (born August 11, 1973), also known as La Barbie ("The Barbie"), is a Mexican-American former drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. Valdez is serving a 49-year prison sentence at USP Coleman ...

and

Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez José Gerardo Álvarez-Vázquez (aka: ''El Indio'' or ''El Chayán'') is a Mexican drug trafficker who worked for the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and then for Édgar Valdez Villarreal's criminal organization known as Los Negros. In 2008, the United S ...

, while the other was led by

and his lieutenant

Sergio Villarreal Barragán Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán, a.k.a. El Grande, (b. September 21, 1969), is a Mexican former federal police officer who then worked as a lieutenant for Arturo Beltrán Leyva of the criminal organization called the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. ...

. In April 2010, Héctor Beltrán Leyva created a short-lived cell or branch in

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

state called South Pacific Cartel (''Cártel del Pacífico Sur'') best known for having employed a 12-year-old gunman and executioner.

Assets

The cartel's assets included: *Dominance over drug and other illegal activities at airports in Mexico, Monterrey, Toluca, Cancún, and Acapulco; *Hotels and restaurants constructed to launder money in Cancún, Acapulco, Cozumel, and other resorts; *A working agreement with

. *Supply corridors for moving marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine from the Andes to the Arctic; *Capability to extort, launder money, run guns, smuggle humans, promote prostitution and carry out kidnappings; *Operations in Mexico City, Chiapas, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Mexico State, Morelos, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Tamaulipas, as well as in the United States and Canada; *Access to some high-ranking public figures and Army personnel whom they bribed or intimidated. ;Former suppliers The Beltrán Leyva brothers'

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n cocaine supplier, Ever Villafane Martínez, was arrested in

in August 2008. After that, the organization pursued a relationship with Víctor and Darío Espinoza Valencia of Colombia's

Norte del Valle cartel The Norte del Valle Cartel (), or North Valley Cartel, was a drug cartel that operated principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia, most notably the coastal city of Buenaventura. It rose to prominence during the 1990 ...

Bounty

The United States offered a US$5million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of

Captures

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva was captured on January 20, 2008, and Arturo was killed by Mexican Marines in a shootout on December 16, 2009. Two weeks following Arturo's death, on December 30, 2009, Carlos Beltrán Leyva was captured by the Mexican Federal Police in Culiacán, Sinaloa after showing authorities a fake driver's license of an alias he was living under. Carlos was arrested on charges outstanding since 2008, including drug trafficking, criminal conspiracy,

and illegal firearms. At the same time as federal police arrested Carlos, Beltrán Leyva associates who allegedly murdered four relatives—a mother, siblings and an aunt—of one of the marines involved in the shootout that killed Arturo, were also arrested by Mexican authorities, with a hitman allegedly confessing to the crimes. The killings, allegedly in retaliation for Arturo's death, happened hours after the marine's funeral. On April 22, 2010, cartel lieutenant

was captured on the outskirts of

; the U.S. had been offering a $2 million U.S. bounty for his arrest. Edgar Valdez Villarreal, the leader of

Los Negros Los Negros ('The Black Ones') was a criminal organization that was once the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel and after a switch of alliances, became the armed wing of the Sinaloa splinter gang, the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. In 2010 it went indepe ...

cartel enforcement, was arrested on August 30, 2010 outside Mexico City. On January 18, 2011, José Jorge Balderas Garza, known as "JJ", the lieutenant and financial operator of the Valdez Villarreal faction, was captured. On September 12, 2010,

was arrested in the city of

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

, east of Mexico City.

was captured by the Mexican Armed Forces on October 1, 2014. The August 11, 2011 arrest of Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a. ''El Compayito''), a cartel lieutenant, was called "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance". On April 16, 2014, the second-in-command, Arnoldo Villa Sánchez, was captured by Mexican authorities in the Condesa district in Mexico City. On October 1, 2014, Hector Beltran Leyva and business associate German Goyenechea, who had become the cartel's chief financier, were both captured while eating at a popular restaurant in

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the Municipalities of Mexico, municipality of San Miguel de Allende (municipality), San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the t ...

. On October 11, 2017, the U.S. Justice Department arrested Sajid Emilio Quintero Navidad, 36, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. He was charged with money-laundering and drug-trafficking. Navidad, who also goes by the name ''El Cadete'' is the cousin of fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who is allegedly responsible for the killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. On July 4, 2019, Héctor Huerta Ríos, the leader of the Beltran-Leyva Cartel in Nuevo Leon who was previously arrested in 2009, was killed by a rival cartel after being shot while driving in Jalisco. His wife, who was in the car with her husband and their two daughters, identified his body to police the next day.

Split

Following the death of

Arturo Beltran Leyva Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People *Arturo Alessandri (1868–1950), Chilean politician and president *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born ...

on December 16, 2009, and the arrest of Edgar Valdez Villarreal on August 30, 2010, the Beltran Leyva brothers lost much of their influence. The cartel then divided into separate independent groups: *

Los Mazatlecos Los Mazatlecos (The Mazatlan people) is an enforcer gang of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. It is reportedly led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores. Activities The Los Mazatlecos gang was formed in the coastal city of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, from where the ...

and

Nayarit Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Nayarit, 20 municipalit ...

, an armed loyalist wing of the Beltrán Leyva brothers, currently fighting the

in northern Sinaloa. *

a former Beltran Leyva enforcement squad, loyal to Edgar Valdez Villarreal after infighting broke out * Fuerzas Especiales De Arturo (Special Forces of Arturo), an elite hitsquad loyal to Arturo Beltran Leyva * Independent Cartel of Acapulco in

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, currently fighting La Barredora. *

La Oficina Consejo Coordinador de Seguridad Pública, commonly known as La Oficina (lit. "The Office"), was a Chilean civilian intelligence organisation that operated from 1991 to 1993. It was created by the government of Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylw ...

In Aguascalientes and Zacatecas. Believed to be run by Chapo Isidro current leader of the Beltran Leyva organization along with the Velasco family well known in the state of Aguascalientes * Los Charritos Most active hitsquad believed to have a heavy presence in the US (Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas) * La Barredora in Guerrero, currently fighting the Independent Cartel of Acapulco * South Pacific Cartel in

, a short-lived cell *

Los Pelones Los Pelones ("The Bald Ones") is an enforcer gang originally part of the Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Sinaloa Cartel, headed by the drug lord Joaquín ''El Chapo'' Guzmán, Mexico's most-wanted man. Etymology Los Pelones l ...

in Morelos. These are former enforcers of the Beltrán-Leyva brothers, now part of the

. * Los Rojos Cartel, in Guerrero. These are former enforcers of the Beltrán-Leyva brothers, apparently independent and dominating much of Guerrero. * Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors) in Morelos and Guerrero * Los Tequileros, a cell of Guerreros Unidos in Tierra Caliente that specializes in extorting politicians

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beltran Leyva Cartel Organizations established in 2008 2008 establishments in Mexico Organizations disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Mexico Disbanded Mexican drug cartels Crime families Transnational organized crime Organized crime groups in the United States Gangs in California Gangs in Nevada Gangs in New Mexico Gangs in Texas