Thanks to the testimonies of both victims and perpetrators, we can confirm that the most bizarre and implausible chapters in the dark history of Nuevo León were written by the violence unleashed by a group of young “gang members”—some barely over the age of twenty-five, others not yet even of legal age—operating under the protection of Los Zetas. These were the most intense years of the war on drugs. Three of the key figures in this saga were identified within the criminal underworld as Colitas, Fabuloso, and Canicón.
The first decade of the century had not yet drawn to a close when the face of barbarism reared its head in the Monterrey metropolitan area. These were the days when savagery roamed every corner of the metropolis—even the exclusive streets of San Pedro Garza García—settled upon the impoverished neighborhoods of Cerro de la Campana, or prowled the nightclubs of Villagrán Street by night.
The reality confronting the country’s wealthiest state triggered unimaginable events: dozens of powerful business leaders fled to Texas; black ribbons of mourning were hung at the gates of the state’s most prestigious private university—the Tec; and the vibrant nightlife of the *Barrio Antiguo* was snuffed out. These were years of sorrow, uncertainty, and anguish that held the state’s 4.5 million inhabitants in their grip.
Before reaching legal adulthood, Jesús Rafael Torres Bautista—alias *El Colitas*—already had a criminal record listing the dispatch of some ten souls to the Underworld. By the time he was old enough to vote, he had masterminded the most heinous attack in the city’s history: an act that left 52 people—most of them women—trapped amidst smoke and fire inside the Casino Royale.
Hernando Rodríguez Hernández—alias *El Fabuloso*—a short, muscular young man, “closed the eyes” of a general from the Presidential General Staff—Juan Arturo Esparza—who had previously safeguarded the lives of President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II during their visits to Mexico; furthermore, he sent another Army general—one who had fought against the EZLN in Chiapas—fleeing in sheer panic.
Yet, even these astonishing feats were surpassed by those committed by Sigifredo Nájera Talamantes—*El Canicón*—a young man who managed to “black out” the signal of the country’s most prominent television network. Moreover—much like Pancho Villa—he launched attacks against Americans within their own stronghold on Constitución Avenue, an act that, from that moment on, instilled fear in diplomats and consulate staff, prompting them to evacuate their families from the country. He also ambushed, slit the throats of, and tortured soldiers, federal police officers, rivals, and innocent civilians alike.
All this transpired during the scant five years of Los Zetas’ reign in Nuevo León—between 2008 and 2014—a period in which the group, having just conquered the neighboring state of Tamaulipas, established itself in the region with the aim of seizing control of the Monterrey metropolitan area, a goal they pursued by systematically eliminating their rivals from the Sinaloa Cartel.
This narco-war compelled the criminal organization to establish some five massive sites to serve either as mass graves or as incineration grounds to dispose of and permanently “disappear” their victims. During this “reign of terror,” the death toll mounted to approximately five thousand violent murders, alongside more than three thousand missing persons—individuals whose traces were utterly lost to both their families and the authorities—according to official statistics from the State Attorney General’s Office.
Colitas in the Casino Royale Case
At noon on August 25, 2011, Jesús Rafael Torres Bautista—known as *El Colitas*—arrived punctually at a luxurious and bustling restaurant specializing in *cabrito* (roast goat), the signature dish of Monterrey. He had been summoned by his bosses: José Alberto Loera Rodríguez (*El Voltaje*), Francisco Medina Mejía (*El Quemado*), and Baltazar Saucedo Estrada (*El Mataperros*)—the four “plaza bosses” (regional leaders) of the metropolitan area.
*Colitas* was responsible for the neighborhoods in the northwest sector, situated near the foothills of Cerro del Topo Chico; he also headed a small cell composed entirely of underage girls. After satisfying his appetite and receiving his orders, *El Colitas* left the restaurant—*El Gran Pastor*—along with at least a dozen associates. They set off in three vehicles to purchase approximately 200 liters of gasoline, which they intended to pour at the entrance of the Casino Royale.
Raul Rocha Cantu—the casino’s owner, who is now under investigation for arms trafficking on behalf of organized crime and for money laundering—had refused to pay a protection fee of around $150,000 to *Los Zetas* in exchange for being allowed to operate. Rocha Cantú kept at least one assault rifle hidden on the roof of his establishment. When the swarm of *Zetas* descended upon the Casino Royale, *El Colitas* took up a position at the entrance; he raised his AK-47, fired a burst into the ceiling, and screamed: “Everybody get the hell out!”—while his accomplices doused the entire premises with gasoline.
Following the attack, Torres Bautista returned to his base of operations: the marginalized neighborhoods in the northern reaches of the metropolitan area—most notably the Croc neighborhood—which were under the control of local street gangs. *Colitas* led a cell that included Josué Mejía Garza (*El Flaco*), 24, as well as several minors: Jesús (*Chuy Pestañas*) and Itzama (*Chama*), both sixteen; Yesenia, seventeen; and Yaresi, fifteen. The area where Los Zetas recruited them isn’t characterized by extreme poverty; rather, it consists of socially marginalized neighborhoods where domestic violence, alcoholism, drug use, and sexual assault are part of daily life.
“El Colitas”—along with the teenage girls—was recruited by the gangs that, at the time, controlled organized crime in Monterrey. The new members who bolstered the structure of Los Zetas nationwide were drawn from the gangs within this metropolitan area. Unlike the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Los Zetas never had to resort to false promises of employment to recruit new members or replace fallen ones. Instead, they adopted the strategy of the *maras*: they would visit neighborhoods to distribute toys at Christmas, hand out food parcels during times of disaster, or pay women, children, and the elderly to take to the streets and protest against the military presence.
In neighborhoods such as Cerro de las Campanas, Croc, or Nuevo Almaguer, Los Zetas recruited hundreds of youths and adolescents to use them as “cannon fodder”—turning them into hitmen, lookouts, or street-level drug dealers. A “Longitudinal Study of Gangs in Monterrey,” conducted by the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in 2010, noted that the Monterrey metropolitan area was home to approximately 2,000 organized gangs. The state’s Secretariat of Public Security identified that around twenty of these gangs were controlled by Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel—the very groups from which they drew hundreds of their new members.
The method used to co-opt them was described by a former gang member who spoke on the condition of anonymity: “Los Zetas are using the same method as the *maras* to recruit.” The system was quite simple: it consisted of instigating conflicts and brawls between gangs. Weaker gangs were attacked by stronger ones to compel their young members to defect to the more powerful gang—in this case, the one controlled by Los Zetas. They also prioritized recruiting women as a means of attracting even more young men.
Weeks after the attack on the Casino Royale, an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office of Nuevo León led to the location of “El Colitas” and his cell of young recruits. They were arrested and remanded to a juvenile detention facility. The investigation also revealed that Torres Bautista and his gang of minors were directly implicated in ten homicides and at least 50 other criminal acts, including kidnappings, assaults, and violent robberies.
“Fabuloso” in the “Bronco” Mayor Case
Hernando Rodríguez Hernández, known as “El Fabuloso,” served as a regional boss for Los Zetas at the age of 24. Yet, despite his youth, he had already achieved the remarkable feat of defeating a four-star Brigadier General: Juan Arturo Esparza, the officer responsible for the security of visiting heads of state—including Bill Clinton, George Bush, King Felipe of Spain, and Pope John Paul II. On November 4, 2009, the general was gunned down—riddled with bullets—alongside three of his bodyguards at the hands of gunmen led by “El Fabuloso,” on the streets of the rural municipality of García. Just days earlier, the military officer Esparza had been appointed Secretary of Security for that municipality by Mayor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón—who had not yet earned his well-known nickname, “El Bronco.”
Within the Zetas’ organizational structure, “El Fabuloso” served as the operative in charge of several municipalities within the Monterrey metropolitan area, home to 90% of Nuevo León’s population. Shortly after Rodríguez Calderón won the election in García, the Zeta kingpin called the new mayor to warn him that they controlled the town and that he was required to abide by their rules. The voice of the young thug failed to intimidate Rodríguez.
Three days after he took office, the Zetas threatened him, stating that they would come to his home to kidnap his daughter. At that moment, he called his Secretary of Security and ordered him to go and guard his residence. Juan Arturo Esparza never made it there; just a few blocks from the municipal hall, he and his bodyguards were ambushed in their vehicle by gunmen working for “El Fabuloso.”
During that period, the Zetas began to impose their bloody reign by eliminating rivals from the Sinaloa Cartel, police officers in the service of “opposing factions,” street-level drug dealers, and anyone else who dared to resist their dominion. They had by then amassed sufficient strength and territorial control to break away from the Gulf Cartel—their original creators. Jaime Rodríguez continued to refuse to submit, so “El Fabuloso” organized the first assassination attempt against him.
On the morning of February 25, 2011, at least three SUVs carrying approximately 15 gunmen pursued the vehicle in which the mayor was traveling, which was being trailed by a second SUV carrying his bodyguards. They were driving along the busy Abraham Lincoln Avenue—a thoroughfare connecting Monterrey to García—which, during the morning rush, is typically teeming with city buses, trucks, and semi-trailers.
The ambush took place at the entrance to the Lomas neighborhood. The initial shots—fired from AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles and striking the SUV in which the mayor was traveling—ricocheted like hail; the vehicle, Rodríguez Calderón recounted, featured Level 5 armor plating—the most powerful grade available. The impact of the rounds prompted the driver to slam on the accelerator, leaving behind the escort vehicle, whose occupants were engaged in a firefight against a numerically superior force of gunmen.
At that moment, the mayor ordered his driver to turn back and use their armored vehicle to shield his young bodyguards—all former members of the Army. Thanks to this protection, the ex-soldiers were able to land precise shots, killing three of the attackers; subsequently, two additional hitmen were apprehended. The rest of the group fled. Following this feat of bravery, the alias “El Bronco” was appended to the name of Jaime Rodríguez Calderón.
“El Fabuloso” met his end following a confrontation with the Army. In an official statement, the Nuevo León Secretariat of Security reported that he—along with two other alleged members of the criminal organization—was killed in a shootout involving military personnel and police officers in the municipality of García on July 30, 2011.
“Canicón” and the U.S. Diplomatic Mission
Sigifredo Nájera, a native of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, “graduated” into gang life on the streets of Dallas, Texas—the city where he had moved as a child to live and attend school. He earned the nickname “El Canicón” (The Big Head) due to the unusually large size of his head.
While in Dallas, Sigifredo crossed paths with two other young gang members who were older than him: the brothers Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño Morales. Years later, these brothers would return to Nuevo Laredo to rise through the ranks and become known as “Z-40” and “Z-42,” respectively. “El Canicón” solidified his position as a *jefe de plaza* (regional boss) following the capture of “El Gori 1” by special forces units of the Mexican Navy. His rise transformed him into a synonym for evil due to the cruelty to which he subjected his victims.
When he assumed leadership, his cohorts visited the most successful nightclubs in the Barrio Antiguo and demanded a weekly protection fee ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. To those who resisted, they showed photographs of their children, wives, homes, and so forth—as recounted in the book *El reinado del terror* (2025) by former DEA agent Leo Silva. Thousands of young people flocked to the Barrio Antiguo on weekends. Los Zetas sold their drugs in the restrooms of the clubs. However, the area began to empty out as kidnappings became frequent—carried out with the assistance of municipal police officers and “franeleros” (informal parking attendants) who tipped off Los Zetas whenever people arrived in luxury cars.
“In 2008 […] the Barrio Antiguo was the most popular nightlife destination. Located in the historic center of Monterrey, the Barrio Antiguo offered first-class restaurants and entertainment for people of all ages. It was thriving. Business owners eagerly sought the opportunity to open a restaurant or bar in the district, but every available space had already been taken, and rents were extremely high. Life was good for business owners in the Barrio Antiguo—and in Monterrey in general—until the wolf came knocking. The wolf—or perhaps I should say a pack of wolves—appeared in the form of Los Zetas.
“Throughout this period, Los Zetas demonstrated formidable leadership and quickly capitalized on the opportunities that came their way. The leaders of Los Zetas were strategists, and their sole objective was to make money—and lots of it—no matter the cost.” “Los Zetas ruled Monterrey through the then-Zeta ‘plaza boss,’ Sigifredo Nájera Talamantes,” notes Silva.
During that period, *El Canicón* was attempting to assert his power. Clashes between the army and the cartels were breaking out in every corner of the city, at any hour of the day. Zeta gangs hurled hand grenades as if they were confetti—targeting bars that refused to pay protection fees; one newspaper, for instance, suffered at least eight attacks against its facilities.
Still other attacks were launched against a television station, as the criminals sought to become the “gatekeepers of information”—dictating what could and could not be published. The most audacious attack ordered by Sigifredo Nájera took place on October 12, 2008, against the U.S. diplomatic mission in Monterrey, situated on a busy downtown avenue; he ordered the strike because he knew the DEA was investigating the Zetas.
“Two unidentified men approached the U.S. Consulate in the city of Monterrey. One of them fired several shots at the facility’s main entrance. The second man threw a hand grenade, which failed to detonate,” the consulate reported in a statement.
This brazen attack shocked high-ranking officials in Washington, and the pressure they exerted on their Mexican counterparts triggered a fierce response from the State. A military-led offensive was launched to capture the Zeta ringleaders. Nevertheless, the top capos felt unthreatened; some time later, they ordered the assassination of two police officers who were guarding the diplomatic mission: Arturo Zavala Ramos and Rolando Ábrego González. In their honor, the consulate installed two plaques bearing their names on its premises.
**The Fall of “Canicón”**
Months later, an army intelligence unit working in conjunction with the DEA managed to locate “Canicón” in an upscale residential subdivision in Saltillo, Coahuila—a place where the capo would return to rest after operating throughout the night in the Monterrey metropolitan area. When undercover officers visited his residence to plan the operation for his capture, they noticed a small sign indicating that the capo was hiring masons to carry out repairs on the house. Subsequently, two soldiers posed as masons.
They were hired by Canicón, and thanks to their efforts, the military obtained the key to his luxurious residence. By noon on March 20, 2009, a helicopter was circling over the sprawling residence while vehicles and dozens of soldiers cordoned off the Residencial San Patricio subdivision, located north of Saltillo.
They didn’t need to batter down any doors. At that moment, Sigifredo was sleeping peacefully in his bed. When a colonel wearing a ski mask woke him up, “that was the moment Canicón began to weep, pleading with them not to torture him—promising he would spill everything he knew,” one of the officers involved in the arrest recounted to a small group of journalists from Monterrey.
“Based on the information provided by this drug trafficker, the arrest of Yaneth Deyanira García Cruz—the organization’s financial administrator—was successfully carried out. At the time of her detention, she was carrying two large suitcases and a briefcase containing approximately 10,110,700 pesos,” along with 930 dollars, specified a statement issued by the Secretariat of National Defense.
Following his capture, Sigifredo was incarcerated at the Almoloya de Juárez prison, where his neighbor was Joaquín Guzmán Loera—until the latter escaped on the night of July 11, 2015. Two months later, *El Canicón* also departed the prison, though without having to construct a tunnel: on September 9, 2015, the National Security Commission reported that Nájera Talamantes had passed away as a result of cardiorespiratory arrest.
Sources: Milenio, Cartel Insider Archives, Cartel Insider Archives
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