At the time of his capture, Treviño Morales was traveling in a truck accompanied by his bodyguard and transporting around 2 million dollars in cash, high-caliber weapons. His arrest took place on March 4, 2015, during an operation carried out by special forces of the Mexican Army and the Federal Police in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León. This detention, along with the capture of Óscar Omar, 'Z-42', represented a significant blow to the Los Zetas organization.
In recent days, it was revealed that Miguel Ángel Treviño, 'Z-40', appointed Frank Pérez as his defense attorney; the same attorney currently representing Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Frank Pérez has experience in defending Mexicans accused of drug trafficking, having previously defended Vicente Zambada Niebla, 'El Vicentillo', son of 'El Mayo' Zambada. The lawyer, along with other defenders of the drug trafficker, mediated for the delivery of a letter from 'El Mayo' Zambada to the Mexican consulate in New York, requesting his repatriation under arguments of illegal extradition and human rights violations.
The first hearing for the leaders of Los Zetas is scheduled for next Friday, March 14. Brothers Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño Morales, known as 'Z-40' and 'Z-42', will face this hearing in the Federal Court for the District of Columbia after their extradition to the United States along with 27 other drug traffickers on February 27. U.S. authorities are expected to request that the case of the Treviño Morales brothers be considered 'complex' and exempt from the Speedy Trial Act due to the abundance of evidence against them.
The charges against 'Z-40' and 'Z-42' include participation in criminal organizations, drug trafficking, possession of firearms, and money laundering. U.S. prosecutors have mentioned the possibility of a death penalty given the severity of the charges. Reports indicate that the evidence against the Treviño Morales brothers includes hundreds of thousands of intercepted emails, documents related to drug and money seizures, as well as government documents provided by foreign authorities.
Los Zetas operated with extreme violence in several regions of Mexico, employing terrorist tactics to maintain territorial control in areas such as Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Veracruz. After the murder of Heriberto Lazcano in October 2012, the Treviño Morales brothers took command of Los Zetas until their capture. Miguel Ángel, 'Z-40', was arrested in July 2013 by the Navy Secretariat in an operation near Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
