Los Rojos
| Founded | 1990s by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Territory | Tamaulipas |
| Ethnicity | Mexican |
| Allies | Gulf Cartel, Nuestra Familia, Norteños, Los Mexicles, Sureños, Mexican Mafia, Sinaloa Cartel |
| Rivals | Los Metros, Los Zetas, MS-13, Los Negros |
Los Rojos is a faction of a Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. The group was formed in the late 1990s during the reign of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the cartel, to provide security to the organization's leaders as the cartel's armed wing.
The current leader of Los Rojos is Juan Mejía González, alias El R1. On 2 September 2011, Mejía González and Rafael Cárdenas Vela, two leaders of the Rojos, ordered the assassination of the drug lord Samuel Flores Borrego, who commanded the Metros, another faction within the Gulf cartel.
The death of Flores Borrego triggered a series of confrontations between the Rojos and the Metros throughout the end of 2011. Nonetheless, in early 2012, the Metros emerged victorious in the infighting and have relegated the Rojos to a less-powerful position in the cartel operatives.
In the late 1990s, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the Gulf cartel, had other similar groups besides Los Zetas established in several cities in Tamaulipas. Each of these groups were identified by their radio codes: the Rojos were based in Reynosa; the Metros were headquartered in Matamoros; and the Lobos were established in Laredo. The infighting between the Metros and the Rojos of the Gulf cartel began in 2010, when Juan Mejía González, nicknamed El R-1, was overlooked as the candidate of the regional boss of Reynosa and was sent to the "Frontera Chica," an area that encompasses Miguel Alemán, Camargo and Ciudad Mier – directly across the U.S-Mexico border from Starr County, Texas. The area that Mejía González wanted was given to Flores Borrego, suggesting that the Metros were above the Rojos.
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