Miguel "El Gringo" Villarreal
| Miguel Villarreal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | United States |
| Died | 10 March 2013 (Not confirmed) Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Other names |
El Gringo Gringo Mike El Gringo Villarreal Comandante Gringo (Commander Gringo) |
| Occupation | Gulf Cartel leader |
| Opponent(s) |
Los Zetas Mario Ramírez Treviño |
Miguel "El Gringo" Villarreal (died on 10 March 2013) was an alleged drug trafficker and high-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking organization. He was the crime boss of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Nicknamed El Gringo in reference to his U.S. nationality, Villarreal was identified by authorities as a Gulf Cartel leader in 2010, when he allegedly commanded cells that fought Los Zetas drug cartel in northeastern Mexico. By 2011, he served as the regional kingpin in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas and ordered several kidnappings and killings in the South Texas border area from Mexico. Throughout 2011 and 2012, Mexican media outlets reported on two occasions that Villarreal had been killed in armed confrontations with rival drug traffickers and Mexican law enforcement officers. By then, rival factions within the Gulf Cartel were fighting amongst each other for the control of the Tamaulipas and the cartel.
Although not officially confirmed, Stratfor intelligence agency reported that Villarreal was killed in a three-hour gunfight that left at least three dozen dead in Reynosa, Tamaulipas on 10 March 2013. The shootout was caused by an attempt by Mario Ramírez Treviño, another high-ranking drug lord of the Gulf Cartel, to remove his rivals and become the undisputed leader of the cartel.
Miguel Villarreal earned his nickname El Gringo for being a U.S. citizen. He was identified as a high-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel by the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in July 2010. According to the government report, Villarreal operated as the second-in-command in the Gulf Cartel. He led armed confrontations against the cartel's rival group Los Zetas in Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and its neighboring states in northern Mexico. They were united during the late 1990s and led by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, but they separated in early 2010 and went to war with each other following several rivalries and leadership voids caused by Cárdenas Guillén's arrest and extradition.
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