EXCLUSIVE: Hit Squad Caught Hunting for Gulf Cartel Boss in Wealthy Mexican Border State Suburb

Assassins from a faction of Los Zetas performed surveillance and search operations in one of Mexico’s wealthiest suburbs in an attempt to kill a top leader with the Gulf Cartel.

The gunmen belong to the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas. They roamed San Pedro, Nuevo Leon, on orders to find and kill Cesar “El Primito” Morfin.

Breitbart Texas consulted with U.S. law enforcement sources operating in Mexico. El Primito is known to hide in the ritzy border state suburb and also in the western state of Jalisco due to the violence in Reynosa as his faction fights for turf. Intelligence suggests El Primito is trying to broker an alliance with leaders of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).

State authorities in Nuevo Leon recently arrested three members of the hit squad as they prepared to carry out a search operation. The group was led by César Alejandro “El Zurdo” García Rosales, a man described by U.S. law enforcement as trusted by the CDN leadership in Nuevo Laredo. It was from that border city that Garcia Rosales and his team traveled to the Monterrey area and set up an informant network to locate El Primito.

El Zurdo’s hit squad included Juan Jose “El Gama” Sanchez Tolentino and Mario Alberto “Betolin” Hernandez Ramos. Authorities in Mexico are currently working on linking the crew to attacks and executions against members of an independent drug distribution gang known as “Los Billys,” who are waging a turf war with the CDN.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report