The sibling former leaders of Mexico's notorious Zetas cartel were arraigned Friday in the United States on multiple charges, including drug trafficking, firearms possession, and money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice said, CBS News reported.
Brothers Miguel and Omar Trevino Morales — known as "Z-40" and "Z-42" — led one of Mexico's most feared organized crime gangs before its collapse. The two were among 29 drug suspects that Mexico expelled to the United States last month amid increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to curb drug smuggling.
The brothers appeared in a Washington, D.C., courtroom, facing charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that involved multiple murder conspiracies, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Additional charges include conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana bound for the United States, using firearms — including a machine gun — concerning drug trafficking crimes, and conspiring to launder money.
Zetas, founded by former Mexican special forces members, gained notoriety for its brutality. Miguel Trevino Morales led until his 2013 arrest, followed by his brother Omar until his 2015 arrest, according to the Department of Justice.
"After their arrests, the defendants allegedly renamed Los Zetas to Cartel del Noreste (CDN) and continued to control the cartel while incarcerated in Mexico," the statement said.
On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that cartels pose a national security threat exceeding that of traditional organized crime.
Last month, the State Department designated CDN as a "foreign terrorist organization," accusing the Trevino Morales brothers of numerous murders, kidnappings, and torture.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty on Friday. If convicted, they could face the death penalty, according to reporters present at the hearing.
"As alleged, the defendants represent some of the world's most vicious cartel leaders, who oversaw Los Zetas' reign of terror with grotesque impunity and ruthlessness, and a sheer disregard for anything beyond their wealth, power and control," Michael Alfonso of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations New York said in a statement.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum last month pushed back against the U.S. designation of drug cartels as terrorist organizations, warning against any infringement on Mexico's sovereignty.
"This cannot be an opportunity for the U.S. to invade our sovereignty," Sheinbaum said. "With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism."