Notorious Gulf Cartel Kingpin Croaks in US Prison Before Facing Justice
Ex-Gulf Cartel leader Mario Ramírez Treviño ("El Pelón") died in US prison March 13, before sentencing. Captured in 2013 & extradited, he became a US witness against rivals like "El Menchito." His cause of death wasn't stated.
He ran one of Mexico's most bloodthirsty drug gangs, but Mario Ramírez Treviño – the feared Gulf Cartel boss known as "El Pelón" ("The Bald One") or "X20" – has cashed in his chips. The 63-year-old narco kingpin died behind bars in a US prison earlier this month, cheating a judge's final sentence, federal prosecutors revealed this week.
The former cartel honcho kicked the bucket back on March 13, according to a motion filed March 21 by grim-faced prosecutors from the Justice Department's Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section. Feds Janet Turnbull, Kirk Handrich, and Jayce Born formally asked a DC court to drop the hammer on the case against Treviño, stating the obvious: you can't prosecute a corpse.
But don't expect a tell-all autopsy report. While sources noted "El Pelón's" health had tanked in recent years, leaving him looking "demacrado" – worn out and emaciated – during court appearances, the official paperwork conveniently skips the juicy details on how exactly the balding baddie met his maker in the slammer.
Treviño's final curtain call came years after his reign of terror south of the border ended. The Mexican Army nabbed him way back in August 2013 in the border badlands of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. It took Uncle Sam until December 2017 to finally extradite him to face the music on heavy-duty charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Since then, he'd been cooling his heels in federal custody, awaiting a sentencing hearing that now will never happen.
This wasn't just any low-level mule. The US Treasury Department slapped Treviño on its most-wanted narco list back in 2010, even dangling a cool $5 million reward for info leading to his capture.
Born March 5, 1962, Treviño's story is a twisted path from lawman to outlaw. He reportedly started as a police investigator before flipping sides to become a top dog in the ruthless Gulf Cartel. During the bloody cartel wars of the 2000s, he commanded the "Los Rojos" faction, even buddying up with the infamous Sinaloa Cartel to wage war against the equally vicious Zetas. Like all good things in the underworld, that alliance eventually went sour.
But once he was in US custody, the fearsome "El Pelón" apparently decided cooperation was better than rotting away completely forgotten. Feds say Ramírez Treviño turned into an "active collaborator" with American justice.
In a stunning twist, the former Gulf Cartel chief became a star witness, spilling the beans against rivals. His testimony was reportedly key in the case against Rubén Oseguera González, aka "El Menchito."
"Menchito," the son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho" – the top boss of the terrifying Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) – likely won't be seeing daylight anytime soon, thanks in part to Treviño's singing. "Menchito" was slammed with a life sentence plus 30 years just weeks ago, on March 7.
So while "El Pelón" helped lock up the son of his rival, he ultimately escaped his own final judgment day in court, taking whatever secrets remained with him to the grave. One less narco for the taxpayers to worry about, but justice, American-style, was left waiting at the altar.
