Raúl Alberto Trejo Benavides

Raúl Alberto Trejo Benavides (died 13 May 2002) was a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Trejo Benavides served in the Mexican Army from 1991 to 1999, and was a member of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), the army's special forces. He joined the Gulf Cartel under kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén after leaving the army, becoming one of the first members of its newly formed paramilitary wing, Los Zetas. Like Trejo Benavides, most of the first members of Los Zetas were ex-military. Los Zetas was responsible for providing security services to Cárdenas Guillén and carrying out executions on the cartel's behalf.

In 2002, Trejo Benavides was mortally wounded in a shootout with rival gangsters in Monterrey. His comrades took his body to a hotel in Matamoros, where they abandoned it after arranging the corpse and the room to simulate a suicide. His death triggered disagreements between Los Zetas leader Arturo Guzmán Decena and Gulf Cartel boss Cárdenas Guillén. The Mexican government remained unaware that Trejo Benavides had died, and continued to issue charges against him along with other Zetas leaders. By 2009, a high-ranking Zetas member confessed to authorities that Trejo Benavides had been dead for several years.

Early life and career Raúl Alberto Trejo Benavides was born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. He joined the Mexican Army on 3 May 1991, later becoming a member of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), the army's special forces.