El Z-7 Reveals Los Zetas Formation to U.S. Authorities

How exactly was the group Los Zetas formed, of which Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a part of? Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar, aka  El Z7, recounted how, together with Cárdenas Guillén, they formed the criminal group Los Zetas. That ended up becoming one of the most dangerous and feared in the country. He narrated this before US authorities. 

Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar, aka El Z7, first enlisted in the army, then into the police force, and finally he crossed over to the dark side by joining the Gulf Cartel headed by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén.

7 years ago years during a criminal case in Texas , he told authorities how the latter formed Los Zetas, which ended up becoming over time, one of the most relentless, dangerous, and feared criminal groups in the country .

Rejón was in the military for 6 years and was part of the Special Forces Airmobile Group (GAFE). An elite unit with specialized training to fight organized crime. When he left the GAFE, he became a federal policeman in Tamaulipas and Coahuila. 

But in 1999, Arturo Guzmán El Z1, an ex military companion and friend, introduced him to Osiel Cárdenas. They gave him the code name Z7, and he became his personal guard and was left in charge of his drug shipments.

Shortly after, another 12 members of the special forces group deserted only to join the ranks of crime. His military training was undoubtedly a strength. Then the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel joined the so-called La Compania. Osiel Cárdenas named them the Zetas because that was the initial that the word Zapatos begins with. 

And for Cárdenas Guillén, the group was as indispensable as the shoes that he used every day to walk with. El Z7 declared to the American authorities that he was in charge of the Miguel Alemán plaza on the Tamaulipas border. And that he coordinated the production, arrival, safekeeping, and shipment of drugs. But he also murdered, ordered executions, kidnapped, and tortured. 

He confessed to having killed about 20 people and in 2007 was promoted. He took charge of accounting for the cartel in Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, and Durango. 

As a close confidante of Cárdenas Guillén, he participated in his attempt to escape from the Altiplano prison after the so-called Friend Killer was arrested in 2003.

But they failed because the pilot hired by the Arellano Félix Brothers, leaders of the Tijuana Cartel and partners of Cárdenas, Rejón never showed up. He was arrested in 2011 and later handed over to the American government. He pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and marijuana and is an active collaborator with US security agencies. 

Source: Milenio