MEXICO’S most feared female cartel leader was arrested following a brutal campaign of kidnap, torture and murder.
Guadalupe Villarreal, known as The Lieutenant, is considered an important member of the Northeast Cartel, one of the most violent gangs in the country.
The 41-year-old was arrested early on Tuesday morning in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, along with her girlfriend identified only as Edna “N”.
The handcuffed and masked women were then led into the back of a police vehicle. Not a single shot was fired during her arrest and police seized a weapon and a large number of fentanyl pills, local media reports.
The gangmaster will reportedly be tried for the crimes of qualified homicide, criminal association and crimes against public servants.
She was a state cop before joining the Northeast Cartel in 2014. She is considered one of the integral pillars of the gang and authorities described her as “extremely violent.”
The Lieutenant was in charge of the nightclubs and bars in Boys Town, Nuevo Laredo’s red light district, where human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, torture and murder would occur.
As the right-hand woman, she was responsible for the lookouts, who reported the movements of the military or rival cartels. The Lieutenant also maintained a close relationship with state cops.
The Northeast Cartel was founded in 2014 as a breakaway group from the Los Zetas cartel.
Los Zetas is considered one of the most dangerous of the cartels in Mexico and has engaged in drug trafficking since its creation in 1999.
The Northeast Cartel is currently fighting against the Gulf Cartel to control drug trafficking along the Tamaulipas-Texas border, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
