Jaime González Durán

Who is Jaime González Durán?

Jaime González Durán is a former Mexican drug trafficker who was one of the 31 original founding members and third-in-command of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. A former Mexican Army elite soldier of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales, he was trained in counter-insurgency and locating and apprehending drug cartel members. He deserted in the late 1990s and was hired along with 30 other ex-soldiers by the Gulf Cartel leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillen as his private enforcement army.

After Osiel's arrest, González controlled a large-scale illegal drug distribution and transfer to the United States, mostly of cocaine and marijuana. He also controlled much of the illegal drug trade in the Mexican states of Nuevo León, Michoacán, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Mexico City. The Attorney General has cataloged him as one of the most dangerous and violent of organized crime members, and one of the most wanted by Mexican and U.S. justice.

González Durán is believed to have been responsible for the murder of narcocorridos singer Valentín Elizalde.