Drug cartels are enlisting ruthless female killers to strengthen their forces in a brutal effort to eliminate rivals and control the narcotics trade.
Among these operatives is Juana N, also known as La Peque, who swiftly climbed the ranks of the Los Zetas cartel in Mexico from humble beginnings to a position of authority.
Hailing from Hidalgo, Juana faced early motherhood and financial struggles. Turning to prostitution due to limited choices and increasing poverty, she eventually crossed paths with criminal organizations.
She was recruited by Los Zetas through her connections, initially serving as an informant before becoming directly involved in gruesome acts like decapitations and other violent crimes for the cartel.
Juana recounted her duties of monitoring roads for law enforcement while on lookout duty, facing harsh punishments if she failed, such as confinement and minimal food.
In a chilling confession during a prison interview, she claimed to have engaged in macabre rituals involving her victims’ blood, including drinking it and engaging in necrophilia. She awaits trial for her heinous acts.
Besides Los Zetas, other criminal groups have ruthless female members. Claudia Ochoa Félix, known as the ‘Kim Kardashian of organized crime,’ was associated with the Sinaloa Cartel and its enforcement group, Los Antrax.
Félix, who flaunted luxury items and posed with firearms on social media, was reportedly married to Jose Gamboa, a prominent trafficker linked to Los Antrax before his incarceration.
Following Gamboa’s arrest, Félix allegedly took charge of a violent hit squad known for its brutal methods, including wearing diamond-studded skull rings to instill fear and assert dominance.
In one confrontation with Mexican soldiers, the gang discovered kidnapped individuals with severe mutilations, highlighting the group’s extreme violence.
After the assassination of a former Los Antrax leader, Félix’s group carried out a series of murders in Sinaloa, leaving victims tortured and displayed in public as a warning to rivals.
Félix’s own demise in 2019 sparked controversy, with speculations ranging from a drug overdose to potential retaliation from within the cartel.
María Guadalupe López Esquivel, known as “La Catrina,” emerged as a feared assassin for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), overseeing lethal operations against rivals and law enforcement.
In a notorious incident in 2019, her squad ambushed and killed a group of police officers in Michoacan, leaving a chilling message at the scene bearing the cartel’s initials.
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