Arturo Guzmán Decena
Arturo Guzmán Decena (13 January 1976 – 21 November 2002), also known by his code name Z-1, was a Mexican Army Special Forces officer and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. He defected from the military in 1997 and formed Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's former paramilitary wing, under the leadership of the kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén.
Arturo Guzmán Decena | |
|---|---|
Arturo Guzmán Decena when he was in the Federal Judicial Police (P.J.F.) | |
| Born | 13 January 1976 Puebla, Mexico |
| Died | 21 November 2002 (aged 26) Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Other names | Z-1 |
| Occupation(s) | Founder and leader of Los Zetas |
| Successor | Rogelio González Pizaña |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Mexico |
| Service/ | Mexican Army |
| Years of service | 1992–1997 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales |
| Battles/wars | Chiapas conflict |
Guzmán Decena was born in a poor family in Puebla and joined the military as a teenager to escape from poverty. While in the military, he was a talented and bright soldier, earning a position in the Special Forces of the Mexican military by the mid-1990s. During his military career, Guzmán Decena received counter-insurgency training, acquired skills in explosives, and learned how to track down and apprehend his enemies from an elite combat group trained by the U.S. Special Forces and the Israel Defense Forces.
He began to take bribes from the Gulf Cartel while still serving in the military, but eventually defected to work full-time for the criminal organization in 1997. For years he recruited other members of the Mexican Armed Forces to form Los Zetas.
He served as the right-hand man of Cárdenas Guillén until 21 November 2002, when he was gunned down and killed by the Mexican Army Special Forces in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas.