A federal agent was ambushed by a Mexican cartel. Now he could be picked to lead Trump's mass deportations

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He's the only US federal agent to have survived a targeted attack from a Mexican cartel - and he could be Donald Trump's next director of ICE. 

ICE special agent Victor Avila, Jr., was ambushed by Los Zetas cartel members in February 2011 on Highway 57 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, while he was driving with fellow ICE Special Agent Jamie Zapata .

Men armed with AK-47s and handguns surrounded the pair’s vehicle and started shouting orders.

In a chilling call made to the US embassy in Mexico, Avila is heard pleading for help after the gangsters opened fire and tried to hijack them.

'We've been shot and attacked on the highway! I am an ICE special agent,' Avila can be heard shouting into the phone as Zapata clung to life in a bullet riddled SUV.

Avila survived despite his serious injuries, but Zapata didn't make it.

In 1985, DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, the only other agent to be targeted by Mexican mafia, died after he was kidnapped and tortured by the Guadalajara Cartel.

Avila is now being considered to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency in charge of carrying out President Donald Trump plans for the largest mass deportations in US history. 

ICE is currently without a director, after Trump reassigned acting director Caleb Vitello over frustrations that not enough illegal immigrants were being rounded up.

Multiple candidates have applied for the top job at ICE, including Avila, several federal law enforcement sources confirmed to DailyMail.com.

The department has yet to confirm if Avila is being considered for the position. 

While Avila wouldn't talk about a possible future role with the agency, the El Paso, Texas native did share his survival story after being attacked by the infamous cartel Los Zetas.

Mexican federal police and army soldiers guard a U.S. Embassy vehicle after it came under attack by Los Zeta cartel gunmen on Highway 57 between Mexico City and Monterrey on Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011

Former ICE Special Agent Victor Avila was flown to a hospital in Houston to recover from the 2011 cartel attack on him and another ICE agent, Jaime Zapata who tragically died during the ambush in Mexico

Avila became a federal agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2004 and rose through the ranks, eventually getting assigned to work at the ICE office in Mexico City-- the busiest in the agency.

On Feb. 14, 2011, he was ordered to go to Monterrey with another agent to pick up equipment from a different ICE office in Northern Mexico.

'At that time, we were prohibited from driving on that road,' Avila explained about Highway 57.

'The US ambassador had sent out an alert saying you can't go on there because of the violence from Los Zetas. They control that whole area.'

Once the most feared cartel in Mexico, Los Zetas raised the level of violence and bloodshed in Mexico.

Zetas had been members of an elite Mexican military unit that had trained with US forces and turned bad.

The dangerous deserters were originally hired by the Gulf Cartel to be their hitmen, but eventually, Los Zetas formed their own criminal organization-- shattering norms long held by cartels with brutal violence.

'Probably the most violent cartel. They're the ones that started beheading people and skinning people alive to intimidate the other cartels, but then the other cartels started retaliating by doing the same thing. Now you have this out-of-control violence,' Avila added.

(Left) ICE Special Agent Victor Avila and (right) ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata were ambushed by members of Los Zetas cartel in Mexico in 2011. Zapata did not survive the attack and Avila was shot three times

Victor Avila (right) making an arrest during his career as an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement

While assigned to Mexico City for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Avila wrote government reports detailing the  state of Mexico's border with Guatemala

Avila worked as as special agent in Mexico for several years

Despite safety concerns, Avila and the other agent, ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata, met the next day and headed to Monterrey in an armored, black Chevy Suburban with license plates that designated them as US diplomats for their own protection.

US law enforcement operating in Mexico do not openly disclose they are cops, as that could make them a target.

Instead they carry US government IDs that list a nondescript job title.

Even for the ruthless Mexican cartels, US government workers have always been untouchable, fearing that any violence against American officials would lead to unleashing the wrath from Washington, D.C.

After picking up the equipment, the pair started to head back to the Mexican capital when they were forced off the road by two SUVs with Zeta cartel members.

'There were about eight gunmen with AK-47s, one guy with a hand gun just ordering us out,' he described.

The two ICE agents disclosed that they were US diplomats, but still the ambushers tried to force them out by opening their doors and pushing guns into the passenger window of the Suburban where Avila was sitting.

'They didn't care. There was a false sense of protection from all the US federal agencies that Mexico and the cartel didn't want the wrath of the US. Los Zetas didn't give a crap. They knew that we were Americans and they didn't care,' Avila said.

After being ambushed by members of Los Zetas cartel, the armored SUV the US agents were riding in was damaged from taking in gunfire from AK-47s

Mexican federal police guard a U.S. Embassy vehicle after it came under fire by cartel gunmen on Highway 57 between Mexico City and Monterrey in 2011

Even though they were injured, the agents desperately tried to get away from the cartel members, crashing the SUV in the median of Highway 57

'Before we knew it, they introduced an AK-47 and a handgun right by my head. They just opened fire into the cabin, striking Agent Zapata multiple times. I got hit three times.'

The agents desperately tried to save themselves, with the wounded and dying Zapata in the driver's seat.

'We tried to get out of there. Jaime, I pushed his foot on the gas. I pushed his knee. The Suburban went from the far right shoulder, crossed the highway into the median and it was disabled there at that point.'

But still the onslaught continued, with cartel members firing over 120 rounds the SUV- equipped with bullet-proof glass and reinforced body plating.

The wounded agent watched as the cartel members left but then returned.

'Two of the shooters got out and got in front of the Suburban and right in front of me, looking at me. They opened fire with AK-47s and were trying to penetrate the bullet-proof glass and it almost gave way. They ran back into their SUV and left, and I think they thought they left me for dead,' Avila stated.

Avila then placed a harrowing call for help to the US embassy in Mexico. 

In 2024, Avila ran for Congress as a Republican and is a supporter of President Donald Trump

Avila tweeted his thanks to Trump's border czar Tom Homan who campaigned for Avila in 2024 during his failed Congressional run in Texas

Victor Avila is retired from ICE currently and lives in the Dallas area

It took 40 minutes for help to arrive, all while Avila tried to keep Zapata alive and remain alert in case the cartel members returned. 

Avila was airlifted out of Mexico to a hospital in Houston, Texas where he was treated for gunshot wounds in his chest and once in each leg. 

In 2017, two Los Zeta hitmen were found guilty in US federal court for killing Zapata and wounding Avila. Five other cartel members also pleaded guilty.

After years of recovering, Avila came back with a vengeance, running for the US House of Representatives in Texas last year. 

While his congressional bid failed, he remains active in politics and is a frequent guest of President Donald Trump at Mar-a-logo.

He considers Trump's border czar Tom Homan a good friend, with Homan campaigning for Avila. 

'I'm here by the grace of God,' he shared. 'No one's gone through what I've gone through. I think it gives me an tremendous amount of advantage and respect for what our agents do. I know, first-hand the dangers and threat that we face from the cartels.'