ABSTRACT
Increasing stains had afflicted the once-mutually-beneficial Zeta–Gulf Cartel marriage. Insiders knew about the troubles within the household, but their divorce became public only in 2010. Judge Hilda G. Tagle granted the US government’s request to bar the public from the kingpin’s sentencing on February 24, 2010. As a result, these proceedings took place behind locked doors in a Houston federal courtroom fortified by additional armed guards. Emboldened by the assistance of El Chapo’s Sinaloans and the final push Osiel had provided to seal a pact with La Familia Michoacana, El Coss resolved to banish Los Zetas from Tamaulipas. A mass e-mail distributed on February 17 threatening widespread violence emptied Reynosa streets, businesses, and schools. The US Consulate closed until further notice. The viciousness of the collision and Los Zetas’ threat of massacres spurred the exodus of local residents from San Fernando, Ciudad Mier, and other towns along the frontera chica.
