. Reta dropped out sixth grade; Cardona left school in ninth grade. Then they were paid up to $50,000 and 2 kilos of cocaine for carrying out a hit. He allegedly deserted the army in 1999 and was a top lieutenant to current Zeta leader Heriberto Lazcano. He still faces separate charges in another killing in Laredo that was allegedly carried out on the orders of the Mexican Gulf Cartel. Rosalio Reta was just 13 when he committed his first murder for the Zetas drug cartel; . It just happened., I always had thought that if I die, its going to be by a bullet in the head, he said. The question remains: How did two American teenagers become killers-for-hire for a Mexican drug cartel? He was one of the first persons I seen to cut somebodys head off, Reta says of the notoriously bloodthirsty Trevio, who ascended to the top of the violent cartel with acts of spectacular cruelty. Over a nearly one-year period starting in June 2005, the border town of Laredo, Texas, saw a string of seven murders. Watch how the teens turned into drug cartel hitmen . Reta was a young boy headed down the wrong path. The Webb County Courthouse was heavily guarded. Before Trevios capture and arrest by Mexican marines a week ago, the Center for Investigative Reporting spoke with Reta about his horrific experience as a murderous cog in Los Zetas. Witnesses testified Wednesday that Reta and two other men working for the cartel were paid $15,000 to kill a Laredo man in January 2006. Cardona laughs as he describes torturing the two boys and dumping their bodies in large metal drums filled with diesel fuel. Now 20, Rosalio Reta is sitting on the other side of a thick glass window, speaking into a telephone handset in the visiting area of a Texas prison. Teachers and parents! He was sentenced to more than 80 years in prison. Movies. On the border, a lot of people get dragged into this lifestyle, Reta said. To make a point, sometimes Trevino sent messages along with decapitated corpses of rival cartel members, said Reta. But what we fail to see is that we do it to ourselves.. An argument broke out: A man wanted to know what Reta, a stranger, was doing there. Watch: Astros SP Luis Garcia debuts new windup after rule changes, Oops! Teenagers go there to drink and dance, but cartel members lurk there, keeping an eye out for possible recruits. Before Trevio's capture and. I wasn't living my life,' he told CNN. Infamous cartel hit man 'El Wicked' strangled in prison: Mexican authorities. appreciated. That clue unraveled the chilling reality and led police to arrest Gabriel Cardona and Rosalio Reta. They were raised in poverty and with the many problems inherent to poverty. All Rights Reserved. A Warner Bros. Wife is shocked after husband of 15 years asks for permission to have an affair: 'I don't know what to do'. There, he witnessed his first executions, and he was turned into a child soldier for Los Zetas. 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. At first glance, the violence looked like isolated, gangland-style killings. "I thought I was Superman. Get Driving Directions to Temp Release Prison, Texas. He stood over the 13-year-old and handed him a gun. "He was torturing two brothers and he made one kill the other," convicted killer Reta said from inside his jail cell. The comments below have not been moderated. Industry chief demands planned corporation tax hike from 19 to 25% in this Ukrainian soldier takes out five Russian tanks and three armoured vehicles in ONE DAY using US-supplied Do not sell or share my personal information. Opinion: Horror wont end with cartel leaders arrest. Its a violent world.. The cartel leader looked at Reta and ordered him to shoot and kill a man tied up on the ground. For him, there is no future. This Record may not reflect actual, complete, or up-to-date data. When you see those, they seem like the window into the cold, calculated soul that made Cardona a notoriously effective killer for the Zetas. 6 Cabo hotels for your spring break vacation, How to score cheap flights (and mistake fares) in 2023, Escape to Long Beach, Washington before the summer crowds, Amazon is having a big sale on Canon cameras and lenses, Score Apple AirPods for under $100 on Amazon today, Stanleys huge water bottle is less than $35 on Amazon, This Costco membership discount puts $30 back in your pocket. 1 most stressful city for workers in U.S. Turner: State takeover of Houston ISD could happen as soon as next week, Houston rap royalty Bun B on returning to Rodeo for another Takeover, How the Houston Zoo moved its flock of flamingos to a new home, Why the Texans should take Bijan Robinson with the No. 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. Reta, a U.S. citizen, was extradited last year from Mexico to face charges in Flores's death. 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. DAVID MONROY/AFP/Getty Images Show More Show Less 5 of 15 Rosalio Reta. 1 most stressful city for U.S. workers, Turner: State takeover of Houston ISD could happen next week, Bun B on bringing Southern rap stars to Houston's Rodeo, The only Houston rodeo food guide you'll need, Former KHOU anchor turns layoff into lucrative real estate career, Houston is in for dust and gray skies as Texas haboob arrives, Astros GM provides update on Yordan Alvarez's hand injury, Houston leaders delay vote on Hobby Airport concesssions contract, Watch: Houston Astros' Luis Garcia debuts new windup, Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious on-air interview with reporter, 'Call me a Nazi': Former Houston-area pastor calls for state book ban. Reta's first kill was at 13 years old. She was gunned down in front of the state capitol in Chihuahua City during a protest against the drug cartels influence in the Mexican government. He had followed two friends to the ranch across the border where he was ordered to kill for the first time. Harry Anslinger employed Joe Arpaio in 1957 to be an agent in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and he rose through the bureau over decades. 2. Zavala was sentenced to life in prison after killing 16 people at a bar in Chihuahua in 2012. Three people exemplify its story: an angel [Juan Manuel Olgun], a killer [, dangerous. If you know nothing about him, its hard to imagine he could have been a lethal assassin. On the surface, Gabriel Cardonas eyes belong to a baby face. As '24 nears, FL Gov. Their short but bloody careers came crashing down swiftly, one after the other. The detective sitting across the table from Reta and Cardona in those sessions is Robert Garcia. He is only in his 20s, but he's facing a lifetime of monotony in solitary confinement. If eyes are a window into the soul then unraveling the myth of Gabriel Cardona gets complicated. Reta grew up in Laredo, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico read analysis of Rosalio Reta Rosalio Reta has claimed to police that he killed 30 people. Case Details Full title:Rosalio RETA, Appellant v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee Court:Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio Date published: Jun 4, 2008 CitationsCopy Citation No. 1 of 3 Authorities say Rosalio Reta Jr., 17, is a member of the ``Zetillas,'' young enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. '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. Many Zeta leaders often use numbers as their cartel nicknames. It's eating me inside little by little, and there's nothing I can do or say to justify my actions.'. Reta, in Spanish street slang, describes his initiation as an assassin, at the age of 13, for the Mexican Gulf Cartel, one of the country's two major drug gangs. Garcia told CNN. Reta and Cardona were paid a $500 retainer each week. . Before his arrest, he was on the FBI's most wanted list. ', Solitary: Before he was even at the legal drinking age, Reta was locked up forever in solitary confinement, Marked man: Reta, like Cardona, received prison tattoos after his arrest, the only outward indication of what occurred in his past, Teenage dream: Cardona and Reta were living like regular teenagers before being drawn into a world of murder, drugs and cash. Reta watched others respond to Trevinos tough leadership. Trevio was in the middle of everything, Reta says of the burnings and torture he witnessed, and soon began to intimidate Reta into doing his ghastly bidding. Trevino then released his team of assassins onto the streets of Laredo, Texas, engaging in a series of high-profile murders. Jun. In a gun battle, in a confrontation, hes the first one to get out of his truck and lead his people. ", In Cardona's interrogation tape, there are clues that "Los Zetas" are reaching deeper and deeper into the United States. As the teens became more immersed in the cartel lifestyle, their appearance changed. And like everything in the violent world of drug cartels, unraveling truth and myth seems fleeting. The teen was arrested in 2010, and told authorities he killed four males by slitting their throat, and was paid weekly in pesos and dollars. 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 former editor of the Daily Dots Unclick section, Klees essays, satire, and fiction have appeared inLaphams Quarterly,Vanity Fair,3:AM,Salon,the Awl,the New York Observer,the Millions, and the Village Voice. Reta dropped out of school in sixth grade, Cardona left in the ninth. 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. A teenage hit man who killed at the behest of leaders of the Gulf Cartel pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a December 2005 murder and was sentenced to 30 years in state prison. A close friend, Gabriel Cardona, now 26, lived nearby. According to a New York Times article from 2009, most of the American youths were recruited in a Nuevo Laredo disco called Eclipse, situated in the main square just across one of two bridges that connect the two Laredos. Attorneys and witnesses have reported being threatened by the cartel's enforcers, and Reta has been moved into solitary confinement. SHARN STEINMANN/Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Lori Garcia . At age 13, the Laredo, Texas, native was brought into the notorious Zetas drug cartel across the border in Mexico, where . Rosalio "Bart" Reta, 17, was immediately sentenced to 40 years in prison. Since 1993, he has been the elected sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. After he botched a job in Mexico, he knew that he would face Trevino's death, so he surrendered to the law and agreed to testify against the Zetas. 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 was only 16. Discovery Company. Police say that one of the crimes for which Cardona is serving time is the kidnap and murder of two American teenagers, during which he slashed them with a bottle, collected their blood in a glass and toasted the La Santa Muerte, the personification of death. Both Reta and Cardona were born to a families with relatives on both sides of the U.S.-Texas border. Rosalio Reta(born 1990) was an enforcer for the Los Zetas gang in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas during the 2000s. 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. 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. 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. Cardona and Reta didnt last long in that world. Mexican and United States law enforcement agencies accuse Trevino of killing hundreds of people while laundering hundreds of millions of dollars. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Movie News India Movie Spotlight. A large image of Santa Muerte or Saint of Death marks Cardonas back. 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. 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. TRAGEDY: Mexico's drug war claims thousands of lives every single year (Image: GETTY) ', Black woman says man repeatedly tried to break into her room at 1am in D.C. hotel, suspects trafficking ring (updated), Why is this still happening man: Student film aftermath of school shooting in viral TikToks, We have to be careful: Woman shares scary experience with Bolt taxi driver amid recent U.K. murders (updated), Coroner confirms Gabby Petitos remains found in Wyoming, death ruled a homicide, *First Published: Jul 22, 2013, 3:04 pm CDT. Didnt last long in that world Reta, a U.S. citizen, was extradited last year from Mexico face. David MONROY/AFP/Getty Images Show more Show Less 2 of 3 Lori Garcia were! 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