Drug cartels are actively recruiting ruthless female assassins to strengthen their forces in a brutal bid to assert dominance in the illicit drug trade.
Among these operatives is Juana N, famously known as La Peque, who swiftly climbed the ranks within the Los Zetas cartel in Mexico, transitioning from a challenging upbringing to a role in enforcement.
Originally from Hidalgo, Juana became a mother at 15 and faced financial struggles. Driven by limited options and escalating poverty, she turned to sex work, eventually leading her into the realm of organized crime.
Through her connections, she was recruited by Los Zetas initially as an informant. Reports suggest her involvement in heinous acts of violence, including decapitations and mutilations, as part of her duties for the cartel.
She recounted spending extended periods on surveillance duty, monitoring routes for law enforcement presence. Failures in her tasks resulted in punishments such as isolation and meager rations.
In a chilling prison interview, she confessed to bathing in the blood of her victims, consuming it while warm, and engaging in necrophilic acts. She awaits sentencing for her atrocious crimes.
Los Zetas is not the sole criminal organization with merciless female members. Claudia Ochoa Félix, likened to the ‘Kim Kardashian of organized crime,’ operated within the infamous Sinaloa Cartel and reportedly served Los Antrax, its enforcement arm.
She flaunted images on social media featuring pink AK-47s, luxury vehicles, and stacks of cash. Allegedly married to Jose Gamboa, another drug trafficker who led Los Antrax before his incarceration, Felix later assumed control of the deadly hit squad within the cartel.
Members of the squad, identifiable by skull-adorned diamond rings, executed brutal acts to solidify the gang’s power, including clashes with Mexican soldiers resulting in mutilations of captives.
Following the assassination of their former leader, the group carried out a spree of murders across Sinaloa, displaying tortured bodies publicly. Felix’s demise in 2019, discovered under suspicious circumstances, sparked debates over cartel vendettas or substance-related causes.
María Guadalupe López Esquivel, known as “La Catrina,” emerged as a feared hitwoman for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), orchestrating attacks on rival groups and law enforcement.
Her reign of terror culminated in a deadly encounter with security forces near Mexico City in 2020, where she succumbed to a fatal gunshot wound to the neck after a fierce exchange of gunfire.
Bodycam footage captured her final moments as soldiers attempted to save her, with her tragic death occurring en route to a military hospital.
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