Mario Alberto Peña

Mario Alberto "Popo" Peña (22 October 1980 – 19 March 2013) was a US-born Mexican suspected criminal and high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He started his criminal career in a local Texan gang before joining the Gulf Cartel, where he worked as a regional leader in an area known as La Ribereña, across the border from Starr County, Texas. Though born in the US, Peña worked in Mexico and maintained close ties with Texas. Known for his charisma and heavily tattooed body, Peña was viewed as a gangster folk hero by some people in the Tamaulipas–South Texas stretch of the Mexico–United States border. In 2013, he was betrayed and killed by an alleged member of the Gulf Cartel. Several people paid tribute to him online by creating a Facebook page and uploading photos and rap music videos in his memory.

Early life and career Mario Alberto Peña, known as "Popo" or "Comandante Popo" (English: "Commander Popo"), was born in Rio Grande City, Texas, United States, on 22 October 1980.