"Tortuga"
Vital statistics
Portrayed By	Danny Trejo
Occupation(s)	Juarez Cartel Member, DEA Informant
Status	Deceased
Episode Count	2
First Appearance	"Negro y Azul"
Last Seen	"I.F.T."
Images of Tortuga

"Tortuga" (literally "Tortoise" in English) was a Juárez drug runner who worked for Juan Bolsa. He was also a criminal informant to the DEA in El Paso about the inner workings of the Juárez cartels.

Season 2

As Hank is promoted to El Paso, his first work there requires information from Tortuga. He informed the DEA of the location of a deal and as the agents lay in wait, Hank begins to show impatience as nothing seemed to be happening. At the supposed meeting, Tortuga's veracity is bantered around the circle until the ever vigilant Hank spotted movement way out on plain they were surveilling. Upon arriving at the scene, the agents discovered Tortuga's head had been mounted on the back of a tortoise with the words "Hola DEA" written across the shell. While Hank suffered a panic attack and stumbled back to the SUV to recover, the other agents taunted him, saying "You look like you've never seen a severed human head on a tortoise before." One agent pulled the severed head off the turtle by yanking onto its hair, triggering the hidden explosive device in the tortoise. The detonation killed one agent and wounded three others ("Negro y Azul"). Hank was at a safe distance and survived, but was transferred back to Albuquerque due to his incident.

Season 3

In a flashback following the meeting with the DEA, Tortuga was shown in a bar lecturing laborers with his stories about the haves and have nots. Juan Bolsa came in looking for Tortuga saying that he had a birthday present for him in the back. Tortuga followed Juan and was told that the tortoise on the ground was his gift. Tortuga was enthusiastic about his present until Juan Bolsa signed it with the words "Hola DEA" on the shell. At this instant, Marco and Leonel came in and attacked Tortuga by chopping his head off with a machete because of his betrayal to the Juárez Cartel. His head was then placed on the animal along with a mercury switch and C4 ("I.F.T.").