X20

History

Ramirez, according to the little open source data available, is a former investigative police officer that became a drug addict and a collaborator of the Gulf Cartel, not necessarily in that order. Following a time in rehab, he emerged as one of the top leaders of the Rojos, one of the several armed factions the Gulf Cartel developed beginning in the late 1990s.

The other armed wings of the cartel, namely the Zetas and the Metros, carved their own spaces within what was essentially a large federation of groups that eventually stretched south to Guerrero and Quintana Roo, and west to Coahuila.

SEE ALSO: Zetas News and Profiles

With the 2003 arrest and later extradition of the cartel's boss, Osiel Cardenas, these groups split into pieces and began a prolonged fight for control of this lucrative corridor that still sees hundreds of tons of cocaine, marijuana and synthetic drugs go through its border crossings.

The Zetas officially broke away in 2010. The Metros, who were loyal to Cardenas and his brother, Antonio Ezequiel "Tony Tormenta" Cardenas -- who himself was killed in a shootout with authorities in December 2010 -- and the Rojos, who were loyal to now jailed former Gulf Cartel boss Eduardo Costilla, alias "El Coss," also split in September 2011, according to court testimony collected by the Brownsville Herald. 

The realignments went further and the speak to the chaotic nature of the Mexican underworld. Some members of the Rojos allegedly joined the Zetas, as the various groups struggled to contain their intercene battles. The Rojos, and their leader X20, also aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel and displaced the Zetas from several key plazas, including Monterrey, the all-important industrial and money hub of northern Mexico. 

SEE ALSO: Gulf Cartel News and Profiles

The fighting between these various factions came to a head in 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo had some of the worst violence in their history, to cite just two Tamaulipas cities that came under seige.

However, after the death of David Salgado, alias "Metro 4," the head of the Metros in January 2013, and the capture of Miguel Angel Treviño, alias Z40, the leader of the Zetas, in July 2013, X20 became positioned to consolidate his hold on northeast Mexico. 

The question will be if he still has the forces and the alliances to achieve it. His armed wing, known as the Deltas, is as much myth as reality, and the Sinaloa Cartel may not be content to take orders from a soldier like Ramirez.

Criminal Activities

Ramirez is wanted in the United States and Mexico for organized crime and drug trafficking. He is named in a lengthy indictment issued in the District of Columbia in which the historic names of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas are identified as co-conspirators (see indictment below).

In 2010, he and others from the so-called "Company" were also named to the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) "Kingpin's List," which identifies him a high level lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel that operates in, and launders, illicit funds.

Geography

Ramirez operates mainly from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, his base of operations for at least the past decade. He may also move through parts of Nuevo Leon.

Allies and Enemies

For the past several years, X20's Gulf Cartel works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel, although there are some reports that say the two groups are now at odds.

Ramirez's chief enemy is Alejandro "Omar" Treviño, alias "Z42," the presumed successor to Miguel Treviño, alias "Z40," the captured head of the Zetas. 

Prospects

After consolidating control of the Gulf Cartel in early 2013, X20 seems ready to make a play for control along the entire northeast corridor of Mexico. However, he faces several challenges: factionalism in Gulf Cartel; the remnants of the Zetas; an inspired Sinaloa Cartel, which may seek to seize the opportunity and try to take the northeast corridor.