Héctor Luis Palma Salazar was born on April 29, 1960, in Noria de Abajo, Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico. Like many from Sinaloa, he started life with limited opportunities and entered the world of crime at an early age, first as a car thief before moving up to become a gunman for Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo’s Guadalajara Cartel. Palma’s criminal skills and ambition led him to rise quickly through cartel ranks, working closely with figures such as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Abelardo “El Lobito” Retamoza Machado. His close relationship with Guzmán and his experience in drug trafficking put him at the heart of Mexico’s rising Sinaloa Cartel by the late 1980s. Palma’s early career was marked by violence, betrayal, and the brutal realities of Mexico’s drug war, but nothing would shape his legacy more than the tragic fate of his own family.

The darkest chapter of Palma’s life began when a trusted associate, Rafael Enrique Clavel, betrayed him. Clavel seduced Palma’s wife, Guadalupe Leija Serrano, forced her to steal millions from Palma, then decapitated her and sent her head back to Palma. Clavel later murdered Palma’s young children by throwing them from a bridge in Venezuela. The brutal killing of his family triggered Palma’s infamous quest for revenge. He ordered the murders of Clavel’s children and Gallardo’s lawyer, and Clavel himself was murdered in prison, reportedly on Palma’s orders. Palma continued his drug trafficking activities, forging a violent partnership with El Chapo Guzmán and the Sinaloa Cartel, clashing with rival organizations like the Tijuana Cartel. On June 23, 1995, after surviving a plane crash, Palma was arrested by Mexican military officers while disguised as a federal police officer. He served 19 years in U.S. federal prison before being extradited to Mexico in 2016, where he remains incarcerated on homicide charges. Palma’s story is a stark example of the cyclical brutality and deep personal vendettas that have fueled Mexico’s drug wars for decades, leaving a trail of grief, corruption, and violence in their wake.