March 13th, 2022, in the Hildago neighborhood in Nuevo-Laredo, Mexico, on the border with Texas.

A few dozen Mexican soldiers, backed by a Black Hawk military helicopter and multiple armored vehicles, fan out.

Half a dozen agencies in Mexico are involved in this operation, and they've received intel that the cartel boss they're

looking for is there. His name is Juan Harardo Trevino Chavez, otherwise known as El Juevo, the

A. He's been the boss of the Northeast cartel, otherwise known as the CDN or Cartel de Noreste

for six years. They've become one of the most violent and brutal

cartels in all of Mexico, eclipsing even their predecessors, the feared and notorious psychos

known as Las Zetas, the Mexican Special Forces soldiers turned Cartel Sacarios. The CDN formed

around 2015, when the Zetas cartel fractured into multiple factions.

Leading the way was the members of the Trevino Morales family and their loyal followers,

who had clashed with the faction known as the old-school Zetas.

The CDN, though, has continued the acid-dissolving and blood-soaked corpse legacy of the Zetas like none other.

They've also followed the path of the Zetas when it comes to the emergence of cartel enforcement wings that function more like paramilitary organizations than gangbangers.

For the CDN, their shock troops are known as the Tropa de Inferno, the Hell Troop or the

troop from hell. Juan Alberto Sidio, a Mexican crime writer and security analyst, calls them

the most bloodthirsty group of Sicarios or pitmen in all of the Mexican criminal gangs.

Back to Nueva Laredo, now in the early morning hours Monday, March 14th.

When new spreads of their boss being grabbed, the Hell Troop was no time.

They've been preparing for this day for a while.

They even have an instruction manual for what to do in these situations.

In short, it's violence against anyone and everyone. They start attacking

everywhere in Nueva Laredo, looking to paralyze the city. They attack military barracks and police,

...