The teenager turned himself in to Mexican police, then called Detective Garcia to ask to be extradited to the U.S., fearing reprisal for his error, or from rival gang member. 'It just happened,' he said, showing off the tattoos he had inked on his eyelids in prison, Teen killers: When this photo of Reta (center) and Cardona (right) was taken, they were well into their bloody careers. Reta grew up in Laredo, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border, and joined the Zetas at just 13 years old, after meeting its second-in-command, Miguel Trevio. An El Paso man convicted of killing 17 people, who later became a motivational speaker, was killed by his cellmate in a Chihuahua prison, authorities announced Sunday. Im really a good person, he said. I couldn't take it anymore. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. For years, Trevino was the unrivaled leader of the ruthless Zetas drug cartel until police arrested him last month just outside Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Reta killed his first victim at 13 years old, when a drug lord handed him a gun and commanded him to shoot another man. Assistant District Attorney Jesse Guillen said the trial in the second case against Reta would likely start soon and would give authorities another chance to add time to the teen's prison sentence. It was the ease with which the boys could cross back and forth across the border that made them valuable to the Mexican Zetas drug cartel. Prosecutor and investigators say Reta and Cardona were recruited into a group called "Los Zetas," a group made up of former members of the Mexican special military forces. Thats a day that Im never going to be able to forget. Movies. Rosalio Reta, convicted drug cartel assassin Over the years the ramshackle neighborhood has developed into a discarded border region where homes sit on dilapidated foundations and families live. Did you encounter any technical issues? Edgar was convicted in juvenile court in July 2011 of homicide and organized crime charges, and sentenced to three years in custody, the maximum allowed. Emanuel Arriaga, a spokesman for the Nuevo Leon state Attorney General's office, said Wednesday that prosecutors in Monterrey couldn't link Reta to any killings. Reta said he began to fear that rival cartel members were getting close to killing him as retribution, so while working on an assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, he called a contact at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and surrendered. Sheriff Joe has built a jail that he refers to publicly as his concentration camp, and presidential candidates flock here during election campaigns, emerging full of praise. One of the most feared and powerful drug kingpins in the world, Trevino took drug cartel brutality to never-before-seen levels. What's on TV & Streaming Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Browse TV Shows by Genre TV News India TV Spotlight. For the latest from AC360 click here. But the kind of mischief Reta would get up to in his young life couldn't be more different from the cartoon kid's boyish pranks. LAREDO, Texas (CNN) -- Rosalio Reta sits at a table inside a Laredo Police Department interrogation room. While in prison, Zavala spoke to middle and high school students as the principal speaker in the Libre de Prisiones program, according to Proceso. -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Rosalio Reta appears in, Chapter 9: Bart Simpson and the Angel of Jurez, drug war. Rosalio Reta was just 13 years old when Miguel Trevio, leader of the ruthless Zetas, the paramilitary wing of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, recruited him as a killer. Rosalio Reta and his friend, Gabriel Cardona, were members of a three-person cell of American teenagers working as cartel hit men in the United States, according to prosecutors. He's a veteran of the Laredo Police Department and one of the few officers who has questioned the young men. Two men reveal details about their lives as teen drug cartel assassins, Now in prison, Rosalio Reta and Gabriel Cardona were hit men for drug lord "Z-40", For each killing, they say, they each were paid about $10,000, Their stories offer a glimpse into a dark world that threatens countless Mexicans and Americans. 'I'm really a good person," he told CNN recently. It gives you that sense that you could do anything without being touched and having that sense of power, Cardona said. . Anslinger said addicts were lepers who needed to be quarantined, and so Arpaio has built a leper colony for them in the desert. For each ordered hit, they said, they were paid an extra fee about $10,000, and sometimes even more depending on the importance of the targeted victim. Cardona was also making a name for himself at that time, and impressing the same narco leaders. Reta and other teenagers were groomed and made to carry out assassinations on both sides of the border. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. "Under the circumstances, it was the best we could do," Pena said of the plea. Watch how the teens turned into drug cartel hitmen . It's eating me inside little by little, and there's nothing I can do or say to justify my actions.'. He allegedly deserted the army in 1999 and was a top lieutenant to current Zeta leader Heriberto Lazcano. Michael. Its hard to pinpoint just how much money they were paid. The tattooed but somewhat soft-spoken Reta, who grew up in Laredo, Texas, but had family in Mexico, recounts how he was attracted by myths of the narco lifestyle on the other side of the river. Cardona estimates he killed between 20 and 30 people. Movies. This is a carousel. out-of-date, incorrect offense/sentence details, record expunged, etc), please send an email to: Temp Release Prison, Texas Inmates & Offenders, https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=06748142, Search is on for inmate accidentally released from Colorado jail, Search for Escaped Inmate in Ellis County, Search underway after inmate escapes in Sabine Parish, Three inmates escape Athens County correctional facility, one apprehended, Man Accused of Helping Callahan County Inmate Escape Self-Surrenders, Oklahoma DOC unveils new inmate search feature, Search continues for Inmate who escaped from Lawrence County work release, Correctional Facility or Supervision Authority, Department of Corrections Inmate / Offender Record. 'It gets to a point where I can't even stand myself. But this was a put-on, Slater writes. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. He still faces separate charges in another killing in Laredo that was allegedly carried out on the orders of the. Oscar Cainer tells all. Biography Rosalio Reta was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico in 1990, and he was raised on both sides of the United States - Mexico border. On the surface, Gabriel Cardonas eyes belong to a baby face. And like everything in the violent world of drug cartels, unraveling truth and myth seems fleeting. If you know nothing about him, its hard to imagine he could have been a lethal assassin. Since 1993, he has been the elected sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. It was real hard for me. If eyes are a window into the soul then unraveling the myth of Gabriel Cardona gets complicated. In interviews with CNN, Laredo police detectives and prosecutors told how Cardona and Reta were recruited by the cartel to be assassins after they began hitting the cantinas and clubs just across the border. A close friend, Gabriel Cardona, now 26, lived nearby. Rosalio Reta was just 13 when he committed his first murder for the Zetas drug cartel; . For him, there is no future. ", In Cardona's interrogation tape, there are clues that "Los Zetas" are reaching deeper and deeper into the United States. 1 of 3 Authorities say Rosalio Reta Jr., 17, is a member of the ``Zetillas,'' young enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. 2023 Cable News Network. Although he initially commented I like what I do in regards to his career as a hitman, Reta in recent weeks has affected a more remorseful tone: It gets to a point where I cant even stand myself, he says. But investigators started suspecting something more sinister. US-born Jimenez Lugo was convicted at age 14 for working as a hitman for a Mexican drug gang, the South Pacific drug cartel. They either end up in prison, or its likely their tortured corpse will be left along a blood-soaked path to nowhere in the Mexican countryside. Cardona and Reta grew up on Lincoln Street in Laredo, just a few blocks from the citys largest border crossing checkpoint. That clue unraveled the chilling reality and led police to arrest Gabriel Cardona and Rosalio Reta. Thats why a lot of people follow him.. I left school. Rosalio Reta in a Texas state prison in 2009 at age 19. Credit. In this conversation. 12 pick, W&P Porter bowl review: A container that makes office lunch easy, A new musical spotlights a Texas bank-robbing legend. It was kind of hard to believe.'. DAVID MONROY/AFP/Getty Images Show More Show Less 5 of 15 Rosalio Reta. "One thing you wonder all the time: What made them this way?" Top dog: Miguel ngel Trevio was at the head of the most vicious, violent and depraved of Mexico's drug cartels until his arrest last month. Then Noe Flores was gunned down in a clear case of mistaken identity. "We have to remember that the United States is the market they are trying to get to. At the age of 13, he crossed the bridge into Nuevo Laredo in search of adventure and was introduced to the Gulf Cartel when his friend Gabriel Cardona took him to a ranch to report for duty for Miguel Trevino Morales. Lopez allegedly worked for Teo, a drug lord from the Tijuana area, and allegedly helped the drug cartel dispose of hundreds of victims by dissolving them in acid. In 2009 Cardona was arrested and pleaded guilty to killing seven men and to conspiracy to kidnap and kill in a foreign country. TV Shows. Their short but bloody careers came crashing down swiftly, one after the other. But then there are those eyes tattooed on his eyelids. Some like it, NOT! Gabriel Cardona, who shows his tattooed eyelids, worked as a hit man for a Mexican cartel. Kids in England had to wear masks at school because No10 'didn't want an argument' with Nicola Sturgeon - Health ministers knew there was no evidence to justify making kids abide by rule of 6 - but No10 'didn't Charles evicting Harry and Meghan is the act of a King putting his country first: REBECCA ENGLISH reveals A royal princess at Eton? He was freed in November 2013, and sent to a support center in San Antonio. People getting tortured, killed, decapitated. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs Some, like the cartel hitman Rosalio Reta and the sadistic sheriff Joe Arpaio, are partially responsible for its violence.Others, like the addiction doctor Gabor Mat and the former president of Switzerland, Ruth Dreifuss . Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Last month, Zetas leader Miguel ngel Trevio, widely believed to be responsible for escalating the depraved and sadistic wave of narco-terror occurring along the borderlands, was arrested. (Prosecutors say during his trial Reta used make-up to cover the facial markings.) Teenagers go there to drink and dance, but cartel members lurk there, keeping an eye out for possible recruits. Join Facebook to connect with Rosalio Reta and others you may know. Struggling with distance learning? Opinion: Horror wont end with cartel leaders arrest. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Hari can only imagine how Rubi Fraire, Juan Manuel Olgun, and, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. LAREDO, Texas On a dusty, remote ranch across the Rio Grande from this Texas border town, an intimidating drug lord stood over 13-year-old Rosalio Reta and handed him a gun. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. CNN was first to broadcast the police interrogation videos from which the world first learned about Reta and Cardona, sparking worldwide fascination with both men and making them infamous legends of a narco world. The friends were mingling with questionable characters but he was curious about the narco world. Reta has bizarre markings around his eyes; Cardona has drawings of eyeballs tattooed on his eyelids. Rosalio "Bart" Reta, 17, was immediately sentenced to 40 years in prison. That same night, Trevino had Reta execute his first victim, and he became part of a team of highly-skilled assassins chosen from Mexican-American youths after training in handguns, assault rifles, and rocket launchers. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Way? South Pacific drug cartel hitmen to kidnap and kill in a clear of... Of Gabriel Cardona gets complicated david MONROY/AFP/Getty Images Show More Show Less 5 of Rosalio. 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