On 23 March 2009, federal authorities in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

published a list of the country's most-wanted drug lords. According to a BBC Mundo Mexico report, the 37 people listed "have jeopardized Mexico national security." This list of drug lords is grouped by their associated cartels. , Mexico has offered up to 30 million

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol com ...

s for the capture of each of the fugitives.''PROCURADURIA GENERAL DE LA REPUBLICA: Acuerdo Específico del Procurador General de la República, por el que se ofrece recompensa a quien o quienes proporcionen información relevante y útil, que auxilie eficientemente para la localización y detención de las personas que en el mismo se indican.''
Procuraduria General de la Republica. Mexico City, Mexico. 23 March 2009. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

also offers rewards for two of them. The most-wanted of the 37 drug lords was Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, for whom Mexican and U.S. governments offered a total bounty of US$7 million. He was captured on 22 February 2014 in

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

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 ...

, where he was staying at a hotel. He escaped on 11 July 2015 through a 1.5 kilometer long tunnel from his cell in the Mexican maximum security prison but was recaptured by Mexican Marines following a gun battle on 8 January 2016. On 25 July 2024, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the last remaining drug lord yet to be arrested, incarcerated, or killed, surrendered to U.S. authorities.

Chronology

As of 18 January 2011, Mexico had captured or killed 20 of the 37 in the most-wanted list. ''"El Amarillo", entre los 29 narcos más buscados en México.''
El Universal. El Universal. 18 January 2011. "Vanguardia" Coahuila, Mexico. Retrieved 8 March 2012. The 21 June 2011 arrest of José de Jesús Méndez Vargas,''La Familia drug cartel defeated, says Mexico.''
Sara Miller Llana. The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, Massachusetts. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011. a.k.a. "El Chango", brought the total to twenty-one captured or killed. On 4 November 2011, Francisco Hernández García was captured. A leader of the Zetas drug cartel, Raúl Hernández Lechuga was captured on 12 December 2011. On 26 September 2012, Iván Velázquez Caballero was captured by Mexican security forces.''Mexico Zetas drug lord Ivan Velazquez Caballero captured, police say: One of Mexico's most wanted drugs traffickers has been arrested, security forces say.''
BBC News. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012. The 7 October 2012 killing of Heriberto Lazcano brought this total to 25 captured or killed so far. On 15 July 2013, Miguel Treviño Morales was apprehended by the Mexican Marines in a town called Anáhuac, Nuevo León, near the border of the state of Tamaulipas. Then, the 27 January 2014 apprehension of Dionisio Loya Plancarte,''Mexico nabs cartel leader Dionicio Loya Plancarte: The drug cartel leader had a $2.25 million reward on his head from the Mexican government.''
USA Today. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014. a.k.a. "El Tío" left the Mexican government with 10 fugitives still on the loose. On 23 June 2014, Fernando Sánchez Arellano was arrested by soldiers of the Mexican Army and federal agents of the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) at the La Mesa borough of

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. On 1 October 2014

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 by the Mexican Army inside a 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 ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

. On 9 October 2014, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes was arrested by Mexican authorities in Torreón (Coahuila). On 27 February 2015,

Servando Gómez Martínez Servando Gómez Martínez (born February 6, 1966), commonly referred to by his alias La Tuta (The Teacher) for once being a teacher, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, a criminal organization based in the sta ...

, the leader of the Knights Templar cartel, was arrested by Mexican security forces in

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

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 ...

. On 4 March 2015, Omar Treviño Morales was captured inside a residence in Fuentes del Valle, an upper-class neighborhood in

San Pedro Garza García San Pedro Garza García (also known as San Pedro) is a city-municipality in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Nuevo León and part of the Monterrey Metropolitan area. It is a contemporary commercial suburb of the larger met ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

, by the Federal Police and the Mexican Army. On 8 January 2016, Mexican Marines captured Joaquín Guzmán Loera after a heavy firefight in the city of

Los Mochis Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Ahome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population. Los Mochis is th ...

, Sinaloa, bringing the total captured or killed to 33.

Grouped by drug cartels

Mexico offered up to 30 million pesos (about 1.76 million U.S. dollars in 2024) for each of the following:

Beltrán-Leyva Cartel

* Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a.k.a. "Jefe de Jefes," "El Barbas,"''Perfil de Arturo Beltrán Leyva: La Muerte, El Barbas o El Botas Blancas, como también se le conocía, se convirtió en el líder del cártel de Sinaloa y aparecía en la lista de los narcotraficantes más buscados del mundo.''
El Universal. Mexico City, Mexico. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "El Botas Blancas," "La Muerte" – Killed on 16 December 2009''Mexican Cartel Boss Killed in Huge Raid.''
CBS News. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2012. *

, a.k.a. "El Ingeniero,"''Narcotics Rewards Program: Hector Beltran-Leyva.''
U.S. Department of State. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "El H," "El General" – Captured on 1 October 2014 – Died on 18 November 2018 * Héctor Huerta Ríos, a.k.a. "La Burra," "El Junior" – Captured on 25 March 2009 – Killed on 4 July 2019 * Sergio Villarreal Barragán, a.k.a. "El Grande"''Sergio Villarreal Barragan: Capture of “El Grande” helps Mexico's president''
Sara Miller Llana. Christian Science Monitor. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "Comeniños,"
María de la Luz González. El Universal. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "King Kong" – Captured on 13 September 2010 * Edgar Valdez Villarreal, a.k.a. "La Barbie,"''Narcotics Rewards Program: Edgar Valdez-Villarreal.''
U.S. Department of State. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "El Comandante", "El Güero" – Captured on 31 August 2010

La Familia Michoacana La Familia Michoacana (, LFM; English: ''The Michoacán Family''), La Familia (English: ''The Family''), is a Mexican drug cartel & organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts of m ...
/ Knights Templar Cartel

* Nazario Moreno González, a.k.a. "El Chayo,"''Perfil Nazario Moreno González, el adoctrinador: El Chayo, El doctor o El más loco compartía el liderazgo de La Familia Michoacana con José de Jesús Méndez Vargas alias El Chango.''
Mexico City, Mexico. 10 December 2010. El Universal. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "El Doctor," "El Más Loco" – Killed on 9 March 2014 *

, a.k.a. "El Profe,"''“La Tuta” cobra como maestro: Servando Gómez tiene una plaza de docente y en el primer trimestre de 2010 recibió ingresos brutos por 51 mil 811 pesos. En los detalles de su ficha en la página de la SEP, se informa que Gómez Martínez no tiene un perfíl académico pero cuenta con 15 años de servicio.''
8 December 2010. El Universal. Mexico City, Mexico. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "La Tuta" – Captured on 27 February 2015 * José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, a.k.a. "El Chango" – Captured on 21 June 2011 * Dionisio Loya Plancarte, a.k.a. "El Tío" – Captured on 27 January 2014

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 ...

* Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, a.k.a. "El Coss"''“El Coss”, nuevo “amo” del grupo.''
Francisco Gómez. El Universal. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012. – Captured on 12 September 2012 * Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, a.k.a. "Tony Tormenta" – Killed on 5 November 2010 * Sigifredo Nájera Talamantes, a.k.a. "El Canicón" – Captured on 23 March 2009 – Died on 7 September 2015 * Sergio Enrique Ruiz Tlapanco, a.k.a. "El Tlapa" – Captured on 8 September 2009

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 ...

* Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, a.k.a. "El Viceroy,"''Top Mexican drug cartel suspect arrested, officials say.''
CNN. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "El General" – Captured on 9 October 2014 * Vicente Carrillo Leyva, a.k.a. "El Ingeniero" – Captured on 1 April 2009 * Juan Pablo Ledezma, a.k.a. "El JL"

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 ...

* Joaquín Guzmán Loera, a.k.a. "El Chapo" – Captured on 22 February 2014 – Escaped on 11 July 2015 – Recaptured on 8 January 2016 * Ismael Zambada García, a.k.a. "El Mayo," "El M-Z,"''“El Mayo” dice que Calderón perderá la guerra antinarco.''
El Informador. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012. "El Padrino" – Captured on 25 July 2024 * Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, a.k.a. "El Nacho" – Killed on 29 July 2010 * Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, a.k.a. "El Azul" – Allegedly died on 7 June 2014 *

Vicente Zambada Niebla Jesús Vicente Zambada Niebla (born 10 May 1975), also known as "El Vicentillo", is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He is the son of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada ...

, a.k.a. "El Vicentillo" – Captured on 19 March 2009

Tijuana Cartel

Teodoro García Simental Teodoro García Simental (a.k.a.: ''El Teo'' and ''El Tres Letras'', born 1974) is a former drug lord and lieutenant of the Mexican criminal organization known as the Tijuana Cartel, and later allied with the Sinaloa Cartel. He was arrested b ...

, a.k.a. "El Teo," "El Lalo,"''El fiscal de la SIEDO obtuvo nuevo auto de formal prision contra Teodoro Garcia Simental, alias "El Teo".''
Procuraduria General de la Republica. Mexico City, Mexico. 6 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2012. "El Alamo," "El K-1,"
El Universal. Mexico City, Mexico. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2012. "El Tres Letras" – Captured on 12 January 2010Mexican drug lord Teodoro Garcia Simental, known for his savagery, is captured
(12 January 2010) * Fernando Sánchez Arellano, a.k.a. "El Ingeniero," "El Alineador" – Captured on 23 June 2014 * Benjamín Arellano Félix a.k.a. "El Min," – Captured on 9 March 2002 * Ramón Arellano Félix a.k.a. "El Commandante Món" "Món" "Colores" – Killed on 10 February 2002

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 ...

* Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, a.k.a. "El Lazca," "Z-3",''Top 10 Notorious Mexican Drug Lords.''
TIME. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2012. "El Verdugo"
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Retrieved 8 March 2012. (English: "The Executioner"), "El Bronce," "El Pitirijas," "Licenciado" – Killed on 7 October 2012
CNN. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012. * Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, a.k.a. "Z-40" ("40," "Cuarenta," "Comandante 40") – Captured on 15 July 2013 * Omar Treviño Morales, a.k.a. "Z-42" – Captured on 4 March 2015 * Iván Velázquez Caballero, a.k.a. "El Talibán," "Z-50" – Captured on 26 September 2012 * Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, a.k.a. "El Goyo," "Metro-2," "Caramuela" – Captured on 30 April 2009''Atrapan en Chihuahua a Francisco Hernández García, alias "El 2000".''
8 November 2011. * Alberto Pineda Villa, a.k.a. "El Borrado" – Killed on 12 September 2009 * Marco Antonio Pineda Villa, a.k.a. "El MP" – Killed on 12 September 2009''Despliegan autoridades municipales, estatales y federales un operativo en la Procuraduría.''
El Diario de Morelos. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2011. * Ricardo Almanza Morales, a.k.a. "El Gori I"''Se Buscan.''
Alfredo Méndez. La Jornada. Mexico City, Mexico. 24 March 2009. p. 4. Retrieved 10 March 2012. – Killed on 4 December 2009
Catherine E. Shoichet (Associated Press). Seattle Times. Seattle, WA. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2012. * Eduardo Almanza Morales, a.k.a. "El Gori II" * Raymundo Almanza Morales, a.k.a. "El Gori III" – Captured on 22 May 2009''Cae operador del cártel del Golfo en Monterrey: Raymundo Almanza Morales, alias "El Gori," uno de los principales lugartenientes del cártel del Golfo, fue detenido en Monterrey, Nuevo León, informó la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena).''
Nubia Maya. El Universal. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2012. * Flavio Méndez Santiago, a.k.a. "El Amarillo" – Captured on 18 January 2011NPR News
''Mexico announces capture of one of the founders of Los Zetas.''
CNN News. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012. * Sergio Peña Solís, a.k.a. "El Concord," "El Colosio" – Captured on 14 March 2009''La Policía Federal captura a Sergio Peña Mendoza, alias “El Concord” presunto operador de “Los Zetas” en Reynosa.''
Secretaría de Seguridad Pública. Mexico City, Mexico. Press Release 120/09. 14 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2012. * Raúl Lucio Hernández Lechuga, a.k.a. "El Lucky" – Captured 12 December 2011

Sortable table

References

External links

''Original Rewards Press Release by PROCURADURIA GENERAL DE LA REPUBLICA, dated 23 March 2009.''Mug shots and bio of Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mexico's 33 most wanted drug lords Sinaloa Cartel traffickers Organized crime-related lists Mexico Mexican drug war Mexican drug traffickers Mexican people convicted of money laundering Mexican crime bosses Most wanted lists Crime in Mexico Mexico-related lists