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How a radio expert helped the Zetas become the most dangerous drug cartel in Mexico

How a radio expert helped the Zetas become the most dangerous drug cartel in Mexico

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Soldiers in Ciudad Juarez
Soldiers in Ciudad Juarez
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Jose Luis Del Toro Estrada didn't fit the description of a high-profile collar in a major drug cartel. A 37-year-old shop owner in McAllen, TX, he kept a simple white brick house with pink flowers out front. He didn't have much of a rap sheet, and didn't keep anything in the way of drugs or AK-47s in his home. However, after an extensive operation that left one of Mexico's most feared and powerful drug cartels bereft of $90 million in cash, 61 tons of narcotics, and "enough weapons to equip an insurgency," new information made it clear that Del Toro Estrada was a key drug player. He wasn't a killer or a leader. Instead, he was the IT expert, and he was instrumental in creating the radio infrastructure that allowed the Zetas, one of the most efficient, bloodiest drug cartels in the world to spread its enterprise across Mexico. Read more at Popular Science.