Cartels are enlisting ruthless female assassins to strengthen their forces, aiming to advance their control over the drug trade through violent means.
One prominent figure is Juana N, also known as La Peque, who quickly rose from challenging circumstances to a prominent role within the Los Zetas cartel in Mexico.
Originally from Hidalgo, Juana became a young mother and faced financial struggles. Turning to sex work due to limited options and increasing poverty, she eventually became involved in organized crime.
Recruited by Los Zetas through her connections, she started as an informant and later engaged in brutal acts like decapitations and mutilations while serving the cartel.
Juana described her duties, such as monitoring roads for law enforcement presence and facing punishment if unsuccessful, including confinement with minimal food.
In a chilling prison interview, she confessed to bathing in victims’ blood, consuming it warm, and engaging in disturbing acts with corpses. She awaits sentencing for her heinous crimes.
Apart from Los Zetas, other gangs also have formidable female members. Claudia Ochoa Félix, labeled the “Kim Kardashian of organized crime,” was affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel and worked with its enforcer group, Los Antrax.
Félix garnered attention by posing with pink AK-47s, luxurious cars, and stacks of cash on social media. She was reportedly married to Jose Gamboa, a drug trafficker who led Los Antrax before his incarceration.
Following Gamboa’s arrest, Félix allegedly took charge of the ruthless hit squad, known for their violent actions to solidify the gang’s power.
In a skirmish with Mexican soldiers in Culiacan, the gang discovered kidnapping victims with severe mutilations. Félix’s leadership led to multiple murders in Sinaloa, including bodies hung from a bridge with signs of torture.
Félix’s demise in 2019, found asphyxiated in Culiacán, sparked speculation, with some attributing it to an overdose and others suggesting cartel retaliation.
María Guadalupe López Esquivel, nicknamed “La Catrina,” emerged as a feared hitwoman for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), overseeing a team of ruthless killers and orchestrating attacks on rivals and law enforcement.
In 2019, her squad ambushed and killed a group of police officers in Michoacan, leaving a cartel signature at the scene. López flaunted wealth and weaponry on social media but met her end in a shootout near Mexico City in 2020, succumbing to a gunshot wound.
Bodycam footage captured López struggling for life, receiving reassurance from a soldier as she was airlifted to a hospital but tragically passing away before arrival.
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