Obsessed with violence and drunk on power – the savage rise and fall of Mexico‘s bloodthirsty kingpin.
The Narco Game of Thrones – Mexico‘s Web of Rival Kingpins
To understand brutal warlords like El Macho Prieto, one must grasp the complex underworld they inhabit – a deadly chessboard fought over by rival drug barons equipped with private armies. Mexico‘s billion-dollar narcotics industry has bred a shadowy hierarchy of magnificent wealth and violence:
The Former Kings
- Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman – Former #1 Leader of mighty Sinaloa Cartel, now imprisoned. His children dispute son Ivan Archivaldo Guzman aka "El Chapito" now runs his faction.
- Heriberto Lazcano – Former head of Los Zetas cartel until killed by Mexican marines in 2012 gunfight. His death led to the splintering of the Zetas.
The Current Powers
- Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada – Co-Founder of Sinaloa cartel, now its #1 Leader commanding key alliances after Chapo‘s fall. A strategic, elusive capo.
- Nemesio Oseguera "El Mencho" – Leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), currently Mexico‘s most powerful and dangerous drug cartel controlling at least 35 states with expansions into Europe, Asia.
The Up-and-Comers
- The Treviño Morales brothers – Command factions of Los Zetas cartel centered around Nuevo Laredo, and have rebuilt some of its former paramilitary might.
- "Los Chapitos" – Sons of "El Chapo" including Ivan, Alfredo & Ovidio Guzman who now run his wing of Sinaloa after his extraditions.
This constantly shifting balance of alliances and factions circling top drug lords shapes the chaos lower henchmen like El Macho Prieto emerge from and ultimately die by. An understanding of this context informs how Prieto brutally tried to climb Sinaloa‘s ranks yet broke too many deadly rules in the end.
Before The Fall – Prieto‘s Years In The Narco Big Leagues
His Backstory – Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza was born in Sinaloa in mid 1970s when cartels first formed. Little is known of his early years but he gravitated towards drug gangs by the 1990s. He slowly built a fearsome reputation over the 2000s, with his wild, bearded visage becoming a dark folk saint on narco blogs.
His Methods – Prieto commanded convoys of dozens of SUVs packed with armed killers, turning rural highways of Sonora into warzones. He transformed His hit squads drove through towns openly brandishing .50 caliber rifles and grenade launchers, turning rural highways into war zones. Prieto also personally tortured rivals, gouging out eyes as warnings. This hands-on cruelty and displays of firepower distinguished him even among other capos.
But Prieto was unusually loyal to friends like Manuel Torres until internal rules forced a change of face and his betrayal. This code of honor among thieves defines how trafficking alliances work, yet figures like Prieto rendered it moot when their ambitions grew too large, writing their own violent ends.
His Territory – Based out of Sonoyta border region near Arizona, Prieto dominated key trafficking routes through the Sonoran Desert into California, the worldʼs largest drug market one highway hour away. He commanded hundreds of gang members and reportedly had deals with crooked US border agents to enable drug deliveries on an industrial scale.
His faction moved thousands of kilos weekly towards Americaʼs $150 billion annual drug habits. Prieto taxed other groupsʼ shipments passing through Sonora too. Attempts by rivals like the Beltran-Leyva cartel to contest this turf after 2008 saw renewed bloodshed grip the region.
His Peak Power – By 2011, various US reports named El Macho Prieto as Mexico’s 2nd most-wanted kingpin and a “Tier 1 Priority Target” behind only his boss El Chapo. He seemed utterly dominant in Sonora and a deputy of influence, with chatter he sought his own cartel. He was Sinaloa chief enforcer, on par with Zambada. Betrayal of this prized status was to be his undoing.
The War Crime That Broke the Code – Prieto Turns on his Godfather
A key insight into Prietoʼs savage rule was how obeyed cartel codes until extreme ambition and mistrust undid him:
The Mentorʼs Underworld Rules – While cartels are chaos to outsiders, El Mayo Zambadaʼs faction follows strict order according to journalist Ioan Grillo: “Lower-ranking traffickers are allowed to run their operations only if they play by the rules set by El Mayo Zambada.” Prieto did so for years.
The Offense Against Rank – Prieto is alleged around 2012 to have started seizing other caposʼ drug loads in Sonora instead of taxing them. This broke unity and suggested a rogue commander commandeering a share illegally. Such a move insulted El Mayo himself, who had overseen Prietoʼs rise as chief enforcer. It essentially stole from the kingpin who gave Prieto his wings.
The Cleansing Sanction – As scholar Howard Campbell summarized this betrayal: “In response to Prieto’s unforgivable transgressions of narco code, the premier Sinaloa leadership authorized the imposition of the ultimate sanction against their former henchman.” Zambada mobilized hitmen to eliminate his disloyal child.
This sequence sheds light on the dark order governing billion-dollar trafficking empires. Crossing certain lines – especially disrespecting superiors – demands merciless reprisal no matter how valuable the marked man once was.
The Final Ambush – Bullet-Ridden End of El Macho Prieto
The last months of Prieto‘s reign in 2013 saw frantic warfare before his enemies trapped and tore apart Mexico‘s 2nd most wanted:
Hide and Seek – Prieto knew he was a target after offending cartel brass and losing support, yet he hid brazenly in familiar northwest stamping grounds, sheltered by hundreds of henchmen against imminent attack. His myself personality and defiance to the end mirrored other doomed kingpins.
The Setup – Zambada convinced a plaza boss near Culican who owed Prieto loyalty to betray him instead. This boss lured Prieto to a meeting in December with the promise of collaboration. En route, the boss‘s men flanked Prieto‘s motorcycle convoy to pin it down in killing zone at the ambush point. Up ahead, the Zambada faction had a pickup truck blocking the road packed with over dozen gunmen lying in wait.
The End – Prieto‘s convoy ran straight into this trap – outgunned and outwitted. The hit squad unleashed savage firepower – AR-15 rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers. Prieto‘s men were shredded in their vehicles, while Prieto scrambled off his bike to try holding out. He died riddled in bullets on roadside. His remains were reportedly taken as trophies to Zambada. It was a consummate betrayal, played out in hails of gunfire.
The Violence Lives On – Mexico‘s Endless Drug Wars
While Prieto himself died suddenly, the machinery of bloodshed never rested during his heyday nor after his violent end:
By the Numbers – Since 2006 over 340,000 Mexicans have died in cartel violence. Mexico suffers over 30,000 murders a year – 4X the death toll of deadliest war zones worldwide. Cartel gunmen outgun Mexico‘s military using AR-15s, RPGs, .50 caliber rifles, grenades. Over 70% of US heroin originates from Mexican cartels reaping $19-29 billion yearly.
The Human Impact – Beyond the body count, ordinary Mexicans face trauma, extortion by gangs, ruthless corruption. Police and journalists who stand up to cartels face slaughter, while citizens are caught between regular firefights, roadblocks, dismemberment, and cities besieged by organized crime.
Why It Persists – Complex factors sustain endless bloodshed: USA‘s huge drug demand and war on drugs fund cartels. Assault weapons flow south from America while laundered narco-cash returns to US. Mexico‘s poor rule of law enables corruption that lets cartels flourish. Meanwhile prosecuting kingpins only creates more violent power vacuums.
The fiery death of Prieto foreshadowed strength of rival CJNG cartel. But his spirit lives on in new warlords like the bloodthirsty leader "El Mencho" and power struggles in over a dozen major Mexican cartels trafficking globally today.