A high-ranking operative in the terrorist designated Los Zetas cartel is going to prison for 35 years. Mexican national, Jaime Gonzalez Duran, also known as "Hummer," has had a long history with U.S. government enforcement agents and the court system. It came to a head on Friday with the sentencing of the 49-year-old cartel criminal.
Gonzalez Duran was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2013. Extradition to the United States from Mexico was requested in 2015. He remained in detention under the control of Mexican authorities until 2022. The legal trail continued with his appearance in court in February when he pleaded guilty to charges covering conspiracy and distribution of massive quantities of marijuana and cocaine into the United States.
He was sentenced to 35 years in the federal prison system and forfeiture of $792 million. In addition to his drug smuggling, federal agents accused him of "engaging in acts of violence against rival drug trafficking groups for control over drug plazas and trafficking routes, storing and transporting weapons, explosives, and ammunition, and bribing law enforcement officers to ensure drug loads would not be disturbed."
The Mexican cartel he helped manage is now known as Cartel del Noreste. It was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in February.
Security firm Global Guardian posted that the cartel is not as strong today as it was in previous years, but still has a grip on several criminal enterprises. "At the height of their power, Los Zetas were perhaps the pre-eminent force in Mexico’s criminal underworld, known for their extreme violence and control over vast territories, the report said. But, reported the Guardian, "few cartels in the modern era have dominated Mexico like Los Zetas cartel, which continues to strike fear into imaginations."
The Gonzalez Duran case was handled in recent months by the Justice Department’s Operation Take Back America. It brings together law enforcement officers and prosecutors from a range of departments and offices to better coordinate efforts to deal with multinational criminal enterprises. One of the primary targets of the operation is "achieving total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations."
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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