U.S. Deports Zetas Cartel Member to Mexico

November 29, 2011

Mexico City – A suspected member of the Los Zetas drug cartel wanted for kidnappings in Mexico has been deported by U.S. authorities, the Attorney General's Office said.

Alfonso Donis Ruiz was arrested on Oct. 17 in Bedford, Texas, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Donis Ruiz was detained because he was in the United States illegally, the AG's office said.

The Mexican government provided documentation to U.S. authorities showing that Donis Ruiz had a prior criminal record and an immigration judge ordered him deported.

He was taken into custody by Mexican federal agents, the AG's office said.

Donis Ruiz, who was identified as a member of the Los Flacos cell of Los Zetas, has a long record of involvement in kidnappings.

Mexico is "cooperating closely" with the United States and will not allow "borders to get in the way" of carrying out the justice "demanded by the Mexican people," the AG's office said.

Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent drug cartel, is involved in a number of different criminal activities, including kidnappings.

Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as "El Lazca," deserted from the Mexican army in 1999 and formed Los Zetas with three other soldiers, all members of an elite special operations unit, becoming the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel.

After several years on the payroll of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent criminal organization, went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories.

The cartel has been blamed for several massacres in recent years.

Los Zetas is accused of carrying out the Aug. 23, 2010, massacre of 72 migrants, the majority of them from Latin America, at a ranch outside San Fernando, a city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

The cartel has also been blamed for the massacre of 27 peasants in May at a ranch in Guatemala's Peten province, which borders Mexico and Belize.

Zetas gunmen set fire to Monterrey's Casino Royale on Aug. 25, killing 52 gamblers and employees trapped inside, most of whom died of smoke inhalation.

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