If you ever heard the horrific stories of torture and violence in Mexico against innocents, it is likely that Miguel and Omar Trevino were involved. Until the DEA can extradite the brothers to the U.S., they will continue to lead Los Zetas Cartel from inside the Mexican prison system.

I first became familiar with Miguel Angel Trevino Morales aka “Z-40” as a lieutenant with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s, Narcotics Service in Laredo. When the Gulf and Los Zetas Cartel split in 2009, the actions of these two individuals became a major part of criminal investigations.

Their work was not limited to dismemberment, face peeling, acid baths, rape, torture, the mass murders. They were capable of thinking bigger than brutal violence against competitors. The pair recruited former special forces operators from Guatemala and El Salvador. They collaborated with the Columbian FARC, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Even teen assassins from Texas were trained to kill on both sides of the border.

The brothers fundamentally transformed the Zetas from another criminal group into a full-fledged insurgency between 2006 and 2009. One decade into the new century, Los Zetas had its fingerprints on violence in nearly very corner of Mexico. The brothers’ tactics were so brutal, other cartels were forced to mimic them to maintain street credibility—reaching the point where the United States began to debate foreign terrorist designations.

After years of hunting by U.S. and Mexican authorities, Miguel Trevino was apprehended in 2013 in Nuevo Laredo. Brother Oscar Omar Trevino-Morales (“Z-42”) took the reins until his capture in 2015.

With both in custody, their brand of violent expansion did not fade. The arrest of “El Mounstro” Rodolfo Garza Brizeno in the early days of 2020 helped to further illuminate how Miguel and Omar are still directing Zetas operations. Recent violence committed throughout Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila were executed under the orders of the brothers.

Today, the United States is now in position to extradite the brothers. The DEA Houston office currently holds indictments and arrest warrants. However, U.S. authorities tell Breitbart Texas the brothers’ attorneys are skilled in leveraging the Mexican judicial system’s appellate process–which must be exhausted–before any extradition can occur.

Since mid-2019, numerous Mexican police officers, soldiers, and citizens were killed throughout the border region abutting Texas, yet the men ultimately responsible are already behind bars. The violence is unlikely to abate in any significant measure until the brothers are sent to Houston.

Jaeson Jones is a retired Captain from the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and a Breitbart Texas contributor. While on duty, he managed daily operations for the Texas Rangers Border Security Operations Center.