Óscar Guerrero Silva Explained

Óscar Guerrero Silva
Birth Date:1971
Birth Place:Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Death Date:1 February 2004 (aged 33)
Death Place:Guadalupe, Nuevo León, Mexico
Death Cause:Suicide
Other Names:Z-8
El Winnie Pooh
Organization:Mexican Army (1992–1999)
Los Zetas (1999–2004)

Óscar Eduardo Guerrero Silva (1971 – 1 February 2004), commonly referred to by his alias Z-8 and/or The Winnie Pooh, was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of Los Zetas, a Mexican criminal organization.

Shortly after marrying, Guerrero Silva joined the Mexican Army in early 1992 and became an infantry soldier. After being promoted to corporal the following year, he deserted from the military in 1999, and began to work as an assassin for the Los Zetas and Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization, along with other ex-soldiers. His life as an outlaw overwhelmed him, and he later committed suicide through a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Criminal career

Óscar Eduardo Guerrero Silva was born in Reynosa, Tamaulipas around the year 1971, and joined the Mexican Army on 28 January 1992 as an infantry soldier. The following year, he was promoted to corporal. Nonetheless, he eventually deserted from the Armed Forces in 1999 and was recruited by the drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel, becoming one of the 50 most-wanted criminals in Mexico during his time.[1] [2]

He was recruited along with several other soldiers of the Mexican Army in the late 1990s by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel, to work as hired assassins and bodyguards, where he earned the alias Z-8.[3] The newly formed group founded by Guerrero Silva and other ex-soldiers became known as Los Zetas, and they were highly trained and equipped, enticed with greater salaries than in the Army.[4] [5] [6] Los Zetas continued to expand by hiring former police officers and gang members alike, and diversified their criminal agenda aggressively by including kidnappings, extortions, oil theft, piracy, and other rackets into their revenue, instead of focusing solely on the international narcotics trade.[7] [8]

In December 2002, gunmen of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel wearing police uniforms raided a prison in Matamoros, Tamaulipas and liberated three men accused of drug trafficking and a woman imprisoned for homicide. The Mexican authorities alleged that Guerrero Silva was involved in the raid.[9] [10] [11] Later on in January 2004, Apatzingán, Michoacán was the scene of a massive prison break when over 50 uniformed gunmen of Los Zetas, including Guerrero Silva, stormed several prison cells and liberated at least 25 inmates, including several high-ranking drug lords of the Gulf Cartel, in less than 15-minutes.[12] [13]

Guerrero Silva was known for having one of the most bizarre and unique Mexican criminal nicknames, Winnie Pooh, but he was "hardly a lovable bear".[5] [14]

Death

On 1 February 2004, elements of the extinct Federal Investigative Agency (AFI) raided a residence at the Riveras del Río neighborhood in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, near the city of Monterrey, and discovered the corpse of Guerrero Silva.[15]

His temple had a gunshot wound from a 9mm pistol, suggesting that his death was an apparent suicide. Guerrero Silva was reportedly overwhelmed after the Mexican authorities had him under surveillance and because he believed his own accomplices were going to betray him.[16]

Personal life and family

Gilberto López Barrera, the brother-in-law of Guerrero Silva and a member of the Gulf Cartel, was arrested in downtown Monterrey on 22 May 2005 and charged with a number of crimes. He is the brother of Ivonne López Barrera, a former romantic partner of Guerrero Silva.[17]

In 1990, two years before joining the Mexican Army, Guerrero Silva married Gabriela Cervantes Zamorano. Both of them stopped seeing each other in 1997, and his wife later found out that he had deserted the military and was working for Los Zetas. Gabriela recalls that Guerrero Silva would send her money and call her on the phone every now and then, but that he seemed uninterested in their matrimony. Although married to Gabriela, Guerrero Silva had a romantic relationship with another woman, which explains why he visited Guadalupe, Nuevo León from Reynosa, Tamaulipas (his actual residence) periodically.[18]

See also

Sources

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Los soldados que trajeron el caos. 23 January 2013. El Siglo de Torreón. 11 August 2006. Editora de la Laguna. https://web.archive.org/web/20220608012748/http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/229980.html. 8 June 2022. live. Spanish.
  2. News: Castillo. Gustavo. También catean vivienda de Los Zetas en Nuevo León. 26 January 2013. La Jornada. 4 February 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031325/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2004/02/04/046n1soc.php?origen=soc-jus.php&fly=1. 4 March 2016. live. Spanish.
  3. News: Vega. Aurora. Cae el tercero al mando del cártel de Los Zetas. 27 January 2013. Excélsior. 5 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211107/http://www.excelsior.com.mx/2011/07/05/nacional/750313. 3 March 2016. live. Spanish.
  4. News: El origen de 'Los Zetas': brazo armado del cártel del Golfo. 13 February 2013. CNNMéxico. 5 July 2011. Turner Broadcasting System. https://web.archive.org/web/20130212043702/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/07/05/el-origen-de-los-zetas-brazo-armado-del-cartel-del-golfo. 12 February 2013. live. Spanish.
  5. News: Jordan. Mary. Betrayal on the Mexican Border. 16 July 2012. The Washington Post. 21 July 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015954/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56415-2004Jun20_2.html. 5 March 2016. live.
  6. Web site: Livington. Andrew. A Reputation for Violence. Colgate University. 24 January 2013. https://www.webcitation.org/6Du246YHk?url=http://www.colgate.edu/docs/d_offices-and-services_accountingandcontrol/livingstona.pdf?sfvrsn=0. 24 January 2013. live. 18. Summer 2011.
  7. News: Grillo. Ioan. Mexico's cartel army, Los Zetas, is drug war's scourge. 24 January 2013. GlobalPost. 13 January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121220175338/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/120112/los-zetas-mexico-violent-cartel-drug-war. 20 December 2012. live.
  8. Web site: Grayson. George W.. Los Zetas: the Ruthless Army Spawned by a Mexican Drug Cartel. Foreign Policy Research Institute. 26 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130126165742/http://www.fpri.org/enotes/200805.grayson.loszetas.html. 26 January 2013. dead. May 2008.
  9. News: González. Iván. El 'Winnie Pooh' era parte del comando armado que rescató a 25 reos del penal de Apatzingán. 26 January 2013. Esmas.com. 3 February 2004. Televisa. https://web.archive.org/web/20110809042801/http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/341588.html. 9 August 2011. live. Spanish.
  10. News: Lira Saade. Carmen. Detienen y trasladan al DF al director y 5 custodios de penal. 26 January 2013. La Jornada. 29 December 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073206/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2002/12/29/025n2est.php?origen=estados.html. 4 March 2016. live. Mexico City. Spanish.
  11. News: Los Zetas, principales sospechosos en la fuga de reos . 24 December 2016 . . 1 July 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130216200448/http://www.cronica.com.mx/notas/2004/102721.html . 16 February 2013. live. Spanish.
  12. Web site: AUTO DE FORMAL PRISIÓN EN CONTRA DEL DIRECTOR Y CUSTODIOS DEL PENAL DE APATZINGÁN, MICHOACÁN. Attorney General of Mexico. 26 January 2013. https://archive.today/20130221033723/http://www.pgr.gob.mx/cmsocial/bol04/mar/b23704.htm. 21 February 2013. dead. Spanish. 9 March 2004.
  13. News: Por la puerta grande y con choferes escapan 41 internos en Matamoros. 26 January 2013. La Jornada. 26 March 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053855/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/03/26/estados/032n1est. 4 March 2016. live. Spanish.
  14. News: Stevenson. Mark. Outlandish Nicknames Suit Mexican Criminals. 26 January 2013. Los Angeles Times. 18 July 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20130710002226/http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/18/news/adfg-nicknames18. 10 July 2013. live.
  15. News: Catean casa en la que fue encontrado cadáver de narcotraficante. 24 December 2016 . La Crónica de Hoy. 3 February 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130225004519/http://www.cronica.com.mx/notas/2004/107567.html . 25 February 2013. live. Spanish.
  16. News: Cardona. Jorge. Autoridades creen que elementos de la banda de narcos 'los zetas' estén en Monterrey. 26 January 2013. Esmas.com. 3 February 2004. Televisa. https://web.archive.org/web/20111110205556/http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/341380.html. 10 November 2011. live. Spanish.
  17. News: lvarez. Mario Alberto. Detienen a cunado de zeta. El Norte (Monterrey). 22 May 2005. Editora El Sol, S.A. de C.V. 7. Spanish. .
  18. News: Ramírez. Rodrigo. Interroga la PGR a esposa de 'Zeta'. El Norte (Monterrey). 6 February 2004. Editora El Sol, S.A. de C.V. 5. Spanish. .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Óscar Guerrero Silva".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.