Efraín Teodoro Torres (died 3 March 2007) was a Mexican suspected drug lord and one of the founders 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 ...

, a criminal organization formed by former soldiers of the Mexican Armed Forces. He joined the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...

in mid-1991 but deserted after seven years of service. In 1998, Torres was recruited by the drug lord

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (born 18 May 1967) is a former Mexican drug lord and the former top leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's fri ...

to join the ranks of the

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 ...

, a drug trafficking organization. The new group formed by ex-commandos came to be known as Los Zetas. Torres was killed in the city of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, following a dispute surrounding a horse race competition on 3 March 2007. After his body was buried, his own gunmen broke into the cemetery that same night and stole his body. Following his death, Miguel Treviño Morales became the leader of Los Zetas statewide.

Criminal career

Torres joined the infantry division of the

on 1 August 1991. Three years later, he was promoted to the corporal unit. In 1996, he was reportedly trained at the

School of the Americas The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning (briefly known as Fort Moore) in Columbus, Georgia, the school bein ...

in Counter-Narcotics training. Nonetheless, he deserted from the Mexican Army on 13 September 1998 and joined the ranks of the

, a Mexican drug trafficking organization. The Gulf Cartel, under the tutelage of the then-leader

, first recruited a Mexican special forces soldier,

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 i ...

, in the late 1990s. With his help, Cárdenas Guillén managed to recruit several other soldiers from the military to work full-time for the Gulf Cartel, forming a paramilitary group known as Los Zetas. Torres was given the radio code and alias ''Z-14'' for being one of the fourteen original military deserters who founded Los Zetas. Torres formally initiated his criminal career by commanding an armed assault at a prison in

Apatzingán Apatzingán (in full, Apatzingán de la Constitución) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Apatzingán in the west-central region of the Mexican state of Michoacán. History Mexico's Constitution of Apatzingán was signed in the c ...

on 5 January 2004, where more than 25 inmates were liberated. When the former soldiers and drug traffickers

Omar Lorméndez Pitalúa Omar Lorméndez Pitalúa (born 18 January 1972) is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He joined the Mexican Army in 1991 and deserted in 1999. He then joined the Gul ...

("Z-10") and

Mateo Díaz López Mateo may refer to: People ;Name * Mateo (given name) * Mateo (surname) ;People named Mateo * Mateo (singer) (born 1986), former stage name of American pop/R&B singer-songwriter Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Mateo'' (1937 film), a 1937 Argen ...

("Comandante Mateo") were arrested by the Mexican authorities in 2006, Torres took the lead of

in the Mexican state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

alongside

Gustavo González Castro Gustavo González Castro (born 1 July 1973), commonly referred to by his alias "El Erótico" ("The Erotic One"), is a suspected Mexican drug lord and founding member of Los Zetas, a criminal organization originally formed by ex-commandos from th ...

("El Erótico"). As a leader of Los Zetas, Torres was responsible for overseeing drug shipments in the state of

and across the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. In the northern state of

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

, Torres commanded the distribution sites in the cities of Ciudad Camargo and Miguel Alemán with Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar and another Zeta member. Torres was considered one of Mexico's most-wanted criminals by the

Attorney General of Mexico The attorney general of the Republic is the head of the Attorney General's Office (; prior to 2019, ) and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office of the United Mexican States, an institution belonging to the Federal Government's constitutional ...

(PGR) prior to his death.

Death

Several members of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel were holding a

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

event at a ranch called El Villarín in the municipality of Veracruz on 3 March 2007. Two horses were competing while people drank, yelled, and made bets worth $2 million U.S. dollars. Both horses ran from the starting line at a fast pace and got to the finish line side by side. But before anyone could verify the winner through the photograph finish, a shooting broke out between the drug traffickers. According to police intelligence, the dispute broke out as an excuse to kill

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 j ...

, another leader of Los Zetas and close associate of Torres. As the shooting began to escalate, all of the personalities of Mexico's criminal underworld that were present at the horse race left in their vehicles, hid behind the stadium stands, or wherever they could. Teodoro Torres and another man died of gunshot wounds, and two others were injured. Torres had been taken alive to the Millenium Hospital in Veracruz city by five of his accomplices, but he was later pronounced dead. Early in the morning on 5 March 2007, his body was buried at Jardín de los Ángeles cemetery in

Poza Rica, Veracruz Poza Rica (), formally: Poza Rica de Hidalgo is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Its name means "rich well/pond". It is often thought that the name came to be because it was a place known for its abundanc ...

. That same night,

gunmen arrived at the cemetery in two vehicles and overwhelmed the night-guard. They later left the place after exhuming and taking Torres' corpse. Following the death of Torres,

Miguel Treviño Morales Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales (born 18 November 1970), commonly referred to by his alias ''Z-40'', is a Mexican former drug lord and leader of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. Considered a violent, resentful and dangerous criminal ...

("Z-40") became the new leader of Los Zetas in the state of Veracruz.

Alleged betrayal

After the supreme leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas,

, was extradited to the United States in 2007, tensions within the criminal organization rose, as

(the Zeta leader) and

Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez (born 1 August 1971) is a former Mexican drug lord and top leader of the criminal drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. He was among Mexico's most-wanted drug lords, until his arrest in 2012. H ...

(the Gulf Cartel successor) fought for supremacy. The infighting worsened when Torres was killed; there are certain cells within Los Zetas that believe that

("Z-40") betrayed Torres and ordered his assassination. They also believe that Treviño Morales is responsible for betraying other Zeta leaders, including

Jaime González Durán Jaime González Durán (a.k.a. ''El Hummer'', born 8 October 1971) is a Mexican former drug lord who was one of the 14 original founding members and third-in-command of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. A former Mexican Army elite s ...

("El Hummer"), Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar ("El Mamito"),

Raúl Lucio Hernández Lechuga Raúl Lucio Hernández Lechuga, alias ''El Lucky'' and ''Z-16'', is a Mexican former drug lord. He had been in the army from 1996 to 1997 and later was one of the founders of the group Los Zetas. The government of Mexico had listed Hernández Le ...

("El Lucky"), and

("Z-1"), by setting up their arrests or deaths. According to police reports, during the horse race competition, Torres was accompanied by 18 armed gunmen. When the dispute occurred, two men attempted to kill Torres, but the shot that killed Torres reportedly came from one of his bodyguards, who shot him in the back. Two bodyguards were arrested and taken to prison after being severely beaten by alleged Zetas, who wanted to know who was the mastermind behind Torres' assassination.

Personal life

Torres, who had received military training before joining Los Zetas, "epitomize the cowboy mentality" of a reckless drug trafficker. He reportedly drank large amounts of alcohol, developed a cocaine habit, and liked betting on horse races. He used the alias Roberto Carlos Carmona Gasperín.

Sources

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Efrain Teodoro Year of birth missing 2007 deaths Los Zetas Mexican crime bosses Murdered Mexican gangsters People from Veracruz (city) Founding members of Los Zetas