A violent member of the Los Zetas drug cartel—now designated a foreign terrorist organization—was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $792 million for trafficking massive quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S., according to officials.
Jaime Gonzalez-Duran, 49, known as “Hummer,” was a founding member of Los Zetas, a group formed by ex-Mexican military officers as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel. He later became a regional commander in key Mexican border cities, officials stated.
Gonzalez-Duran was responsible for smuggling over 450 kilograms of cocaine and 90,000 kilograms of marijuana, orchestrating violent attacks on rival cartels, and bribing officials to protect drug shipments. He maintained a weapons warehouse in Reynosa, where authorities seized 540 rifles, 165 grenades, half a million rounds of ammunition, and TNT.
In 2007, he was caught on a wiretap arranging the movement of $1.5 million in drug proceeds from Texas to Mexico.
On Feb. 28, Gonzalez-Duran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine and marijuana for unlawful importation into the United States from Mexico.
(News Story Nine Months Ago)
The DEA Houston Division investigated the case.