Óscar Omar Treviño Morales (born January 26, 1974) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of Los Zetas, a criminal organization. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. His brother is Miguel Treviño Morales, a former leader of the group. The authorities believe he was the successor of his brother, who was arrested on July 15, 2013. On February 27, 2025, Morales and his brother would be extradited to the United States.

Criminal charges

Morales is allegedly responsible for several abductions and murders committed 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 ...

between 2005 and 2006 and the supply source for multi-kilogram loads of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

smuggled from Mexico to the United States. He was charged in a 2008 federal indictment in the U.S. District of Columbia, and the U.S. Department of State offered a reward of up to $5 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction. On 24 March 2010, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

sanctioned him under the

Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, better known as the Kingpin Act, is landmark Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States intended to address Illegal drug trade, international narcotics traffic ...

(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

At around 4:00 a.m. on March 4, 2015, Treviño Morales was captured inside a residence in Fuentes del Valle, an upper-class neighborhood in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, by 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 ...

and 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 ...

. Not a single shot was fired in the operation. In a nearby neighborhood, authorities arrested his financial operator Carlos Arturo Jiménez Encinas, along with four other people. Four days later he was transferred to the Federal Social Readaptation Center No.1, a maximum-security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico. He was formally charged in a federal court in Toluca, State of Mexico on March 13 for money laundering and for violating Mexico's Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives.

Aftermath

On 23 March 2015, Ramiro Pérez Moreno (alias "El Rana" or "The Frog"), a potential successor of "Z-42", was captured along with 4 other men. He was arrested in possession of 6 kilos of cocaine and marijuana, rifles and one hand grenade.

Extradition to the United States

On 27 February 2025, Treviño along with 28 other narco figures were extradited to the United States. His brother Miguel would be extradited as well.

References

Living people Fugitives wanted by the United States Fugitives wanted by Mexico Fugitives wanted on organised crime charges Los Zetas 1974 births People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act People from Nuevo Laredo {{Mexico-bio-stub

Criminal charges

Arrest

Aftermath

Extradition to the United States

See also

References