By Itzli
Reliable sources have confirmed that Juan Francisco “El Panochitas” Sáenz Tamez, code name “Metro 103”, a former leader of the Los Metros Faction of the Cártel del Golfo (CDG), was executed last week.
The Execution
On the afternoon of Sunday, January 25, 2026 rumors began to spread that “El Panochitas” had been killed, which came as a shock as he was believed to be imprisoned in the United States, where he was sentenced to 30 years in 2015. The full story remains unclear, however bits and pieces of information have slowly come out. It appears that “El Panochitas” had been hiding out in the Ribereña region of Tamaulipas and had been asked to attend a meeting with fellow cartel members. While Guadalajara has been mentioned, the exact location of his execution remains unclear.
The killing is universally attributed to Alfredo “El Mofles” Pérez, a member of Los Metros who is best known for having executed Armando Daniel “El Choco” León García in similar fashion. It is further said the execution was ordered by César “El Primito” Morfín Morfín, leader of the Los Metros Faction and “El Sánchez”, a high ranking cartel member in the Ribereña whose real name is believed to be Efraín Sánchez or Homero García Carrasco, is also blamed by some sources.
Who is Panochitas
As more extensively detailed in A Leadership History of Los Metros, Juan Francisco Sáenz Tamez was born in 1990 or 1991 to Juan Sáenz and Nidia Tamez López. He became a member of Los Zetas as a teenager and went on to become a cartel accountant but after war between Los Zetas and the CDG broke out in 2010 “El Panochitas” went on to defect to the CDG, where he became “Metro 103” under the command of Samuel “Metro 3”Flores Borrego.
Around May 2013, during the leadership of Mario “El Pelón” Armando Ramírez Treviño, under whom Los Metros became an independent faction of the CDG, “El Panochitas” became head of plaza in Camargo. With the August 2013 arrest of “Mario Pelón” came rumors that “El Panochitas” had given authorities information to locate him; it was said that in this time frame “El Panochitas” was increasingly interested in taking control of the Los Metros Faction. In May 2014 “El Panochitas” is believed to become either one of the three co-leaders of the Los Metros Faction or, at the very least, one of the prominent members trying to consolidate power, particularly in the Ribereña, although there are claims that he was the sole leader.
“El Panochitas” was arrested in Edinburg, Texas on October 9, 2014 and reporting from this time frame described him as “head of the Gulf Cartel following the 2013 arrest of former leader Mario Ramirez-Trevino”, head of plaza in Reynosa, or head of plaza in the Ribereña. After pleading guilty in January 2015, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Thereafter, “El Panochitas”, who had offered to give United States authorities information immediately after his arrest, began testifying for the United States government in a number of cases, including the Luna brothers Joel and Eduardo, Reymundo Villarreal of Los Piojos, and Lee Roy Villareal, brother of Miguel “El Gringo” Villarreal, the later of which took place in 2022. While it was expected that “El Panochitas” would serve a reduced sentence for his cooperation there does not appear to be any information on his release nor were there evident rumors of his return to Mexico.
However, it is worth noting that a search of the Federal Bureau of Prison indicates that “El Panochitas” has not been in BOP custody as of December 4, 2023.
Cartel Context
With an overall absence of information it is difficult to place the killing of “El Panochitas” into the greater cartel context, however there are still things worth noting. The return of “El Panochitas” to Mexico clearly took place during the leadership of “El Primito”, who took control of the Los Metros Faction of the CDG in August 2019 and likely occurred while Los Metros were at war with the Matamoros Faction of the CDG from the Spring of 2024 to early 2025, or shortly beforehand.
While drug cartels are generally presented as having a clear leadership structure more often than not a number of power bases exists which often creates bouts of infighting. In the case of the Los Metros Faction “El Primito” is seen as the overall leader but is not believed to be physically present in the cartel’s territory and it seems that his direct underlings primarily operate in the Ribereña region that “El Panochitas” once dominated, including his power base in Camargo, with many prominent individuals having arrived from other states, particularly Michoacán. It is worth noting that not only has “El Primito” been mentioned as having ordered the execution of “El Panochitas”; “El Mofles” is said to have been directly involved and sometimes “El Sánchez” has been blamed. In this context all three individuals belong to the same power base.
The second most powerful power base within the Los Metros Faction is based out of Reynosa under the leadership of Carlos Humberto “El Mono” Acuña de Los Santos, who uses the code name “M36”. “El Mono” was named head of plaza in Reynosa in March 2018 by “El Choco” and others; it appears that he operates in association with “El Primito” but does not necessarily take direct orders from him. References to “M36”, along with “M38”, in messages regarding the execution of “El Panochitas” are particularly interesting considering the fact that “El Mono” was once an underling of “El Panochitas” and one would assume he would be a natural ally of “El Panochitas”. On the other hand it is often difficult for cartel leaders to return to power as their underlings have grown to enjoy their status and are not inclined to cede power.
Whether or not the execution of “El Panochitas” leads to cartel infighting is yet to be clearly seen. In this context “El Sánchez” has been named as a target of revenge by loyalists of “El Panochitas” and roadblocks taking place in the Ribereña in recent days have been attributed to this boiling conflict. Potentially hindering a reprisal is the unclear extent to which “El Panochitas” has allies outside of loyalists, with the status of “El Mono” unclear in this situation and other power bases, such as Héctor “La Mimi” Sánchez Rivera of Reynosa and Leonel Artemio “El Chaparro” Bazán García of Nuevo León unmentioned.