Jorge López Pérez, also known as El Chuta, is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member 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 group based in

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 ...

, Mexico. López Pérez 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 1979. He specialised in martial arts, parachuting, explosives and guerrilla warfare tactics. In 1981, he deserted from the military and joined a cell of 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 ...

, where he coordinated drug trafficking operations in

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

. In the early 2000s, López Pérez left and worked as an independent trafficker before joining 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 ...

. He became one of the first members of the cartel's newly formed paramilitary wing, Los Zetas. Like López Pérez, most of the first members of Los Zetas were ex-military. Wanted on drug trafficking charges, he is one of the last remaining fugitives from the early Zetas generation.

Early life and career

López Pérez joined the

on 1 October 1979. He was enrolled as a paratrooper in the Parachute Rifle Brigade (Spanish: ''Brigada de Fusileros Paracaidistas'') and was stationed at the Santa Lucía military base in the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...

. During his tenure in the military, he became a specialist in martial arts, parachuting, explosives and guerrilla warfare tactics. He deserted from the military on 17 September 1981. López Pérez then joined the

and was assigned to head drug trafficking operations in

. He was part of a Quintana Roo-based cell headed by kingpin Alcides Ramón Magaña ("El Metro"). The local gang was known as the Cancún Cartel and/or the Southeast Cartel. When Ramón Magaña was arrested in June 2001, his colleague Jesús Albino Quintero Meraz ("El Beto") contacted López Pérez with a new job offer. Quintero Meraz suggested that he join the Gulf Cartel under kingpin

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 ...

. However, López Pérez moved to Veracruz and became successful as an independent drug trafficker instead. After Quintero Meraz was arrested in 2002, López Pérez moved to Yucatán to manage Colombian narcotics with several local smugglers. He fled to Tamaulipas in 2003 after the Mexican Army's efforts to apprehend him intensified. Once in Tamaulipas, he was hired by

Rogelio González Pizaña 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, a criminal organization originally formed by ex-commandos ...

("Z-2") and formally joined

, the Gulf Cartel's newly formed paramilitary group that was originally composed of ex-commandos. López Pérez knew a number of members of Los Zetas from his days in the military. His alias "El Chuta" derived from the word "parachuting". López Pérez is often cited as one of the founding members of Los Zetas. When the group was formed in the late 1990s, it was originally responsible for proving security services to Cárdenas Guillén and carrying out executions on the cartel's behalf. However, it underwent organizational changes over the years and began to involve itself in other criminal activities, like drug trafficking alongside the Gulf Cartel. Due to his previous experience in the Juárez Cartel and his knowledge of drug operations in the area, López Pérez was assigned to coordinate drug trafficking activities for Los Zetas in Cancún. He was responsible for coordinating smuggling activities at the

Cancún International Airport Cancún International Airport () is Mexico’s List of the busiest airports in Mexico, second busiest airport and the largest in the country and List of the busiest airports in Latin America, Latin America for international passengers. Locate ...

. According to security forces, López Pérez and other members of Los Zetas based in the Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Chiapas, and Campeche receive protection from corrupt municipal authorities and former members of the Juárez Cartel. In Los Zetas, he reported directly to

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 ...

("Z-3"), who co-headed the criminal group with

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"). In 2002, López Pérez and his colleague Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar ("El Mamito") were responsible for training new Zetas' hires. In 2004, he was responsible for coordinating international drug trafficking shipments in the

Riviera Maya The Riviera Maya () is a tourism and resort district south of Cancun, Mexico. It straddles the coastal Federal Highway 307, along the Caribbean coastline of the state of Quintana Roo, located in the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula. O ...

, an area that extended from Cancún to

Tulum Tulum (, ) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. T ...

. This region was a strategic reception area for Los Zetas because it allowed them to receive South American narcotics arriving by boat. The drugs were stored in

Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as Playa, is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 3 ...

and Cancún for further distribution. In 2009, he was cited as a regional leader of Los Zetas in the state of Coahuila, a region he reportedly shared with Galindo Mellado Cruz ("Z-9"). That year Mexican federal authorities listed him, along with Lazcano, Rejón Aguilar, Gustavo González Castro ("El Erótico") and Flavio Méndez Santiago, as one of the leading fugitives in Los Zetas. In early 2012, López Pérez headed operations for Los Zetas in northeastern Mexico and was paid directly by Lazcano. Among his colleagues in this region were González Castro, José Alberto González Xalate ("El Paisa") and Salvador Alfonso Martínez Escobedo ("La Ardilla"). Intelligence reports state that López Pérez was especially loyal to Lazcano, just like Zetas lieutenants González Castro, González Xalate, Juan Carlos Morales González ("El Peluchin"),

Iván Velázquez Caballero Iván Velázquez Caballero (born February 10, 1970), also known by his alias El Talibán, is a Mexican convicted drug lord of the criminal group known as Los Zetas. The government of Mexico listed Velázquez Caballero in 2009 as one of its 37 ...

("El Talibán"), Prisciliano Ibarra Yepis and

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"). Several of them were once part of the

Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales The Special Forces Corps () are the special forces battalions of the Mexican Army. Formerly the Special Forces Airmobile Group () or GAFE, the SF corps has six regular battalions; plus four specialized units, one of those units is the '' Fuerza ...

(GAFE), the army's

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

Charges and status

On 18 June 2003, Mexico's

Attorney General's Office The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It ...

(PGR) placed an unspecified bounty on 31 members of Los Zetas, including López Pérez. Authorities stated that López Pérez was "highly dangerous", given his military background and his suspected role in homicides, drug trafficking, kidnappings, and

carjacking Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually i ...

s. This announcement was made after the Specialized Unit Against Organized Crime (UEDO) identified him as a high-ranking member of Los Zetas following the 14 March arrest of Cárdenas Guillén. Unlike other Zetas members who voluntarily requested their release from the military, López Pérez had deserted and joined organized crime, which is considered high treason in a military court; López Pérez was wanted by the PGR, the

Secretariat of National Defense The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA; ) is the government department responsible for managing Mexico's Army and Air Forces. Its head is the Secretary of National Defense who, like the co-equal Secretary of the Navy, is directly answe ...

(SEDENA) and the

Secretariat of Public Security The Mexican Secretariat of Public Security or Secretariat of Public Safety, also known as the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Public Safety (, ''SSP''), was the federal ministry of the Mexican Executive Cabinet Organic Law of the Fede ...

(SSP) for his outstanding charges. Few details of his criminal activities are known; unlike the rest of the early members of Los Zetas, who were arrested and/or killed over the years, López Pérez reportedly disappeared from public view. Mexican authorities believe that he is trying to live a low-profile existence to avoid detection since there is an outstanding arrest warrant for him. He is one of the last remaining fugitives from the early Zetas generation.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Perez, Jorge Founding members of Los Zetas Fugitives wanted by Mexico Fugitives wanted on drug trafficking charges Living people Los Zetas Mexican soldiers Paratroopers Year of birth missing (living people)