CDG Chismes: A Suprise Ceasefire

 By Itzli 

I’ve been considering doing periodic update articles on rumors, gossip, and online talk concerning the various Cártel del Golfo (CDG, Gulf Cartel) factions for a while now and finally decided to pull the trigger with some interesting news that took place in the shadow of 28 notable cartel members being extradited to the United States. It was ten days ago that I wrote a state of affairs type article called The Tamaulipas Border in 2025 and one of the things I pointed out was the Cártel del Noreste (CDN) fighting against Los Metros on several fronts. Things continued much the same over the following days, for instance CDN forces just outside General Bravo, the military seized weapons in Camargo, and a picture of “El Rokero”, head of plaza in Camargo, began spreading online.

Last night Furia_Tinta posted about a ceasefire between Los Metros and the CDN being in the works. LosBloqueados2 has added a number of details, claiming that high-ranking members of each cartel had begun negotiating the ceasefire before dawn on Tuesday, February 25. The following day forces were ordered via radio to stop shootouts and advancing the positions of armored vehicles; yesterday the ceasefire was confirmed, though both sides are holding their positions in the two main conflict areas, Los Guerra and Doctor Coss.

CDN Perspective

I think it’s worth taking a look at all three cartels on the Tamaulipas border and how this turn of events might affect their actions for the near future. From the outside it seems surprising that the CDN under Juan “La Sombra” Cisneros Treviño would agree to a ceasefire since they seem to have been putting Los Metros on the defensive. In fact, a while back there were rumblings of a truce between the CDN and Matamoros Faction of the CDG, which made sense as their individual fights with Los Metros forced the latter to split their forces. 

On the flip side the ceasefire negotiations are said to have began days after the United States government declared the CDN a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) due to their involvement “in drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, human smuggling, and other illicit activities” as well as their use of “violence to exert its criminal control, including attacks against government officials in Mexico.” It would seem that the CDN is concerned by this and a ceasefire would allow them to keep a lower profile, plus it would help them financially as war hurts business. However, we’re already seeing an uptick in violence in Ciudad Victoria so maybe the CDN wants to cease hostilities with Los Metros so they can focus on recovering long lost territory in southern Tamaulipas.

While the timeline doesn’t match up to triggering the ceasefire, the extraditions to the United States that took place add an interesting twist to the dynamics of the CDN. Of the 29 individuals suddenly sent to face trial in the United States, 8 were members of Los Zetas and/or the CDN with direct ties to the Treviño family that formed and controls the CDN. 

Alfredo “El Chicles” Rangel Buendía has been in jail the longest and was a member of Los Lobos of Nuevo Laredo before they were absorbed into Los Zetas. Such was the case with two others that were extradited, Miguel Ángel “Z-40” Treviño Morales and Oscar Omar “Z-42” Treviño Morales. Said to be a close associate of “Z-40” and the leader of Los Zetas, Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano Lazcano, “El Chicles” was involved in the war for Michoacán against La Familia Michoacana and was arrested in August 2008. Lucio “El Lucky” Hernández Lechuga may have been one of the original 7 members of Los Zetas and his arrest in December 2011 was believed to have taken place because “Z-40” betrayed him.

Miguel Ángel “Alfa Metro” Rodríguez Díaz was the leader of Los Zetas in northern Coahuila in 2012, he was involved in the killing of the governor’s nephew in revenge for the death of Alejandro Treviño Chávez, brother of former CDN leader Juan Gerardo “El Huevo” Treviño Chávez, and was arrested a week after “El Lazca” was killed. 

At that point “Z-40” became leader of Los Zetas up until his arrest in July 2013, but it has been heavily rumored he continued to lead the cartel and, later, the CDN, from prison. Despite being called “Z-13” in some reports, another individual extradited yesterday was Jesús Alberto “El Pinky” Galaviz Vega was a later addition to Los Zetas and was arrested in March 2013. “Z-42” succeeded “Z-42” as leader of Los Zetas up until his arrest in March 2015 and nearly three weeks later Ramiro “El Rama” Pérez Moreno, who was extradited yesterday, was arrested. “El Rama” was a close associate of both “Z-40” and “Z-42”.

The final individual of this group extradited yesterday was Carlos Alberto “La Bola” Monsiváis Treviño, half-brother of “La Sombra”. A former leader of the CDN, “La Bola” has been in and out of prison over the years, with his latest arrest taking place in September 2024. I hesitate to say that the “La Sombra” and the CDN had advance knowledge of the extraditions to take place but a ceasefire is much easier to take place without “Z-40” giving orders from prison in Mexico.

Los Metros Perspective

It appears that a ceasefire benefits Los Metros more than anything as they no longer have to worry about the CDN breathing down their neck in the west and south. While none of their former members were among those extradited, the FTO designation is something they needed to worry about too. There’s been rumors of money issues within Los Metros and a ceasefire with the CDN lets them focus solely on combating the Matamoros Faction of the CDG. Of course there also seems to be drama within Los Metros and there’s an emerging rumor that “El Cuaua” is wanting to take over Reynosa.

Matamoros Perspective

A few weeks ago it seemed that a ceasefire was going to take place, but the rumblings stated it was Los Metros and the Matamoros Faction of the CDG, with CDN left out. Now it is being said that Matamoros is being left on the wayside. While his former associates Evaristo “El Vaquero” Cruz Sánchez and José Alberto “La Kena” García Vilano were extradited to the United States, José Alfredo “El Contador” Cárdenas Martínez, leader of the Matamoros Faction, managed to not share their fate as he is out of prison, though said to have to check in periodically and/or has an ankle bracelet.

It would seem that the Matamoros Faction will be on the defensive now with the CDN fighting in and around Ciudad Victoria and Los Metros countering the incursions into Reynosa and trying to recover Río Bravo. There may be other dynamics in play as well. During the previous ceasefire rumors it was hard to tell if it was truly taking place and if so, it seems that it collapsed before it fully went into effect. 

It seems that the Mexican government wants things to calm down in Tamaulipas, not only have state officials been rumored to be pushing for a ceasefire it is being said that military leadership stationed there is heavily involved in negotiations. I need to refind the link but I remember seeing that a couple of high ranking members of the Matamoros Faction were quietly arrested in Ciudad Victoria, it seems it was to send a message. Another thing to note is the fact that Marco “El Alacrán 01” was arrested a week ago in Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí; he was the Huasteca regional leader of the Matamoros Faction and strangely enough a high ranking member of the CJNG in San Luis Potosí was arrested around the same time in a separate operation. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if all of this is part of negotiations, with the government showing how they can both help and hurt the Matamoros Faction.