El Werko: His Zetas Treviño Family Connections and the Fallen Leaders of Tropa del Infierno

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

With the recent arrest of the leader of Tropa del Infierno, Fernando de Jesús Rodríguez Adame, alias “El Werko” some questions emerged online about who his wife Leslie Vázquez Monsiváis is as she is said to be directly related to the Treviño Morales siblings who led Los Zetas and later the Northeast Cartel (Cártel del Noreste, CDN).

And then a brief overview of the recent Tropa del Infierno leaders who have either been killed or arrested, and who is left to take over these key positions.

Treviño Family Connections

El Werko is married to the daughter of a niece of famous Los Zetas leaders, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales alias Z-40 as well as his brother Oscar Omar Treviño Morales, alias Z-42. El Werko also reports directly to the son of a nephew of Miguel and Omar. 

To explain, the Treviño Morales family begins with the siblings' parents who are Rodolfo Treviño and María Arcelia Morales. 

Together Rodolfo and María had thirteen children. They are Juan Francisco (1955), Arcelia (1957), Irma (1959), Alicia (1961), Rodolfo (1963), María Guadalupe (1964), José (1966) , Ana Isabel (1968), Jesús (1970), Miguel Ángel (1973), Oscar Omar (1976), Cristina (1978) and Adolfo (1980). Of the thirteen siblings, at least six have been investigated for being involved in organized crime. 

When two key Los Zetas leaders (Omar Treviño Morales “Z-42” and Ramiro Pérez Ramos "El Rama") were arrested, Omar’s nephew Juan Francisco Treviño Chávez “El Kiko” tried to assume leadership of Los Zetas. 

However Kiko’s ascent to leadership was not well received by some within the group and consequently the Zetas splintered into warring factions. One of these factions was the Northeast Cartel (Cártel del Noreste, CDN) which contained those loyal to El Kiko and other Treviño Morales siblings. 

In 2016, Kiko was arrested and his aunt Ana Isabel Treviño Morales is presumed to have taken control of CDN however she was arrested not too long after, in 2017. Following the arrest of Ana Isabel, Kiko’s son Juan Gerardo Trevino Chávez “El Huevo” is presumed to have taken over leadership of CDN. 

It is important to note that Miguel’s and Omar’s sister, Ana Isabel Treviño Morales had a daughter named Sofía del Carmen Monsiváis Treviño. Sofía del Carmen then had daughter named Leslie Vázquez Monsiváis who is now the wife of Fernando de Jesús Rodríguez Adame, alias “El Werko”. 

As the leader of Cartel del Noreste’s armed wing Tropa del Infierno, El Werko directly reports to El Huevo. The two are said to work closely together. And thus, El Werko is married to the daughter of the niece of Z-40 while also reporting to the son of a nephew of Z-40.

The Fallen Leaders of Tropa del Infierno

Aside from El Werko, the most recent Tropa del Infierno (Troop from Hell) leadership figure who has been taken down is Pablo César Guajardo Álvarez, alias “El Takia” or “El Tribi”. El Takia was described as the head of sicarios (or hitmen) for Tropa del Infierno at the time of his death. El Takia was killed less than a month ago in the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo after he resisted a routine traffic stop and pulled a gun on police officers on July 22, 2021. 

Takia famously organized a commando of hitmen to break him out of a Güemes juvenile prison in 2016. And then infamously, members of El Takia’s family were allegedly kidnapped and executed by rival cartel members in July 2017. 

Luis Alberto Dávila Salazar alias “El Viejito” was known to lead a Tropa del Infierno small subgroup of child hitmen who included sicarios such as Edgar Hernández  “La Kalia” (who was killed in 2018 in a police shootout). Following the demise of most of his young hitmen, El Viejito became a subordinate of Martín Rodríguez Barbosa alias "El Cadete". It was while he was working under Cadete that Viejito was arrested on May 15, 2021. 

Another Tropa leadership figure was Hugo Alejandro Salcido Cisneros alias “El PinPon” or “El Porras”. He, much like Takia, famously had a jailbreak from Güemes juvenile prison. PinPon’s escape was made in June 2017, where he escaped alongside seven other juvenile inmates. 

By 2020, PinPon had risen through the ranks and he was believed to be the leader of Tropa del Infierno. In March 2021 he died in a confrontation with State Police in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. 

The aforementioned El Cadete is still alive and he is thought to be in charge of the personal security of the overall leader of CDN Juan Gerardo Treviño Chávez, alias "El Huevo".

Trevino Family Sources: Proceso, Milenio, NBCDFW, La Silla Rota, previous writing from Borderland Beat's MX

Fall Leaders Sources: El Takia BB, Structure of CDN BB, PinPon BB, PinPon Escape Ariste, PinPon LMT, Comandante Viejito BB, La Kalia 2018