United States v. Marciano Vasquez

KING, Circuit Judge:

Just across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, lies the city of Piedras Negras. A violent drug cartel, the Zetas, dominated the city. The cartel stocked vast warehouses in Piedras Negras with drugs and used the city as a base to smuggle them into the United States. The defendant, Marciano Millan Vasquez, was a hitman for the cartel and the so-called "plaza boss" of Piedras Negras. He directed the traffic in drugs and did whatever was required to protect the cartel's bottom line. He kidnapped, tortured, and killed scores of men, women, and children-often in brutal fashion.…