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 the Mexican Armed Forces. He joined the Mexican Army as an infantry soldier in 1990, and ascended to the corporal unit five years later. By 1999, however, González Castro had resigned and began working for the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas along with several former military men.
Gustavo González Castro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 July 1973 |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Other names | El Erótico (The Erotic One) |
| Organization(s) | Mexican Army (1990–1999) Gulf Cartel (1999–2010) Los Zetas (1999–present) |
| Criminal status | Fugitive |
Considered one of the prolific assassins in his organization, González Castro commanded and successfully carried out a massive prison break of 25 inmates with other Army deserters in 2004. González Castro is among Mexico's most-wanted men, and one of the last standing founders of Los Zetas.
Criminal career
editGustavo González Castro was born in the Mexican city of Tuxpan, Veracruz on 1 July 1973.[1] He joined the Mexican Air Force, a service branch of the Mexican Army, on 22 March 1990 as an infantry soldier. In 1995, he was the corporal unit, but resigned to enlist in the reserves on 1 August 1999.[2] At some point after leaving the Armed Forces, González Castro joined the criminal organization known as Los Zetas, which was formed by him and other ex-soldiers who were recruited by the Gulf Cartel under the tutelage of the then-leader Osiel Cárdenas Guillén in the late 1990s.[3][4][5]
In the early 2000s, Carlos Rosales Mendoza, the leader of La Familia drug cartel and close associate of Cárdenas Guillén, was combating the Milenio Cartel for the control of the drug trafficking territories in the state of Michoacán.[6] In an attempt to put down the Milenio organization, Rosales Mendoza contacted the Gulf Cartel and asked them to send several gunmen of Los Zetas to help in the fight. Cárdenas Guillén agreed by sending Efraín Teodoro Torres and González Castro, two of its best hitmen.[7] On 4 January 2004, the Gulf Cartel dispatched several members of Los Zetas, including González Castro, to perpetrate a larger prison escape in a municipal prison in Apatzingán, a city just 200 miles from the nation's capital. Armed with AK-47s and AR-15s and dressed in military uniform, the Zeta gunmen tied up the prison guards and liberated at least 25 inmates, including five high-ranking members of the Gulf Cartel.[8][9] The Mexican authorities believe that the imprisoned Cárdenas Guillén had possibly ordered this raid in an attempt to predict the likelihood of his escape from La Palma prison.[10][A 1]
Status
editIn late January 2009, several homicides were reported in Guadalajara area, including the discovery of the alleged body of González Castro, alias El Erótico.[5] The information was not confirmed, and González Castro remains a fugitive and in Mexico's most-wanted list.[14][15] He is also one of the last standing founders of Los Zetas who are still at large.[16]
In 2011 and 2012, González Castro was reported to have been commanding Los Zetas in Monterrey and Tamaulipas state respectively.[17][18]
Kingpin Act sanction
editOn 24 March 2010, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned González Castro under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (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.[19] 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.[20]
See also
editSources
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was arrested on 14 March 2003 in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas after an intense shootout between Gulf Cartel gunmen and the Mexican Armed Forces.[11] While awaiting extradition, he was imprisoned at Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 ("La Palma"), but there are signs that he reportedly controlled drug trafficking operations behind bars.[12] Cárdenas Guillén was later extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010.[13]
References
edit- ^ Code of Federal Regulations, Title 31, Money and Finance: Treasury, Pt. 500-End, Revised as of July 1, 2010. Government Printing Office. 28 September 2010. p. 674. ISBN 978-0160860034.
- ^ "GUSTAVO GONZÁLEZ CASTRO" (in Spanish). Secretariat of National Defense (Mexico). August 2005. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ^ Sánchez, Alex (22 May 2007). "Mexico's Drug War: A Society at Risk – Soldiers versus Narco-Soldiers". Washington, D.C.: Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ^ Gómez, Francisco (30 January 2011). "Los Zetas originales, diezmados en una década". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Ejecutan a posible fundador de Zetas". Milenio (in Spanish). 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ Grayson, George W. (February 2009). "La Familia: Another Deadly Mexican Syndicate". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ Grayson 2012, p. 14.
- ^ Caballero, Eliseo (5 January 2004). "Se fugan 25 reos de penal de Michoacán". Esmas.com (in Spanish). Televisa. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ "Army deserters linked to prison raid". Chicago Tribune. 7 January 2004. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ U.S. Congress 2007, p. 568.
- ^ "Felicita DEA a México por captura de Osiel Cárdenas". Esmas.com (in Spanish). Televisa. 14 March 2003. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ Aponte, David (5 January 2005). "Líderes narcos pactan en La Palma trasriego de droga". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ McKinley Jr., James C. (25 February 2010). "Mexican Drug Kingpin Sentenced to 25 Years in Secret Hearing". New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ "LOS MÁS BUSCADOS: GUSTAVO GONZÁLEZ CASTRO" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Attorney General of Mexico. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ Grayson 2010, p. 281.
- ^ "Libres, únicamente 11 de 40 desertores que fundaron Los Zetas". Milenio (in Spanish). 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ^ "#CasinoRoyale: Confirma Domene detención de 2 presuntos implicados". AnimalPolítico (in Spanish). 28 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ Esquivel, J. Jesús (1 April 2012). "Un gobierno paralelo, el objetivo..." El Diario de Coahuila (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ "DESIGNATIONS PURSUANT TO THE FOREIGN NARCOTICS KINGPIN DESIGNATION ACT" (PDF). United States Department of the Treasury. 15 May 2014. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ^ "An overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act" (PDF). United States Department of the Treasury. 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
Bibliography
edit- U.S. Congress (2007). State, foreign operations, and related programs appropriations for 2008. United States Government Printing Office.
- Grayson, George W. (2010). Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?. Transaction Publishers. p. 291. ISBN 978-1412811514. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- Grayson, George W. (2012). La Familia Drug Cartel: Implications for U.S.-Mexican Security (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. ISBN 978-1478113164.