Alejandro Vargas grew up in Las Almas with his deputy, Rodolfo Parra. He admitted that he skipped school to spend time on mountain trails on the outskirts of the city, which by the time the campaign began had turned into a cartel hideout.

At some point in his life, most likely when he turned 18, he enlisted in the Mexican Army, and at another undisclosed moment after that joined the Mexican special Forces, serving with Valeria Garza. At a much later stage in his career in the special forces, he will conduct a raid against the son of La Arania, the former leader of the Las Almas cartel, but will be betrayed by Valeria and her unit, who were on the payroll of the cartel.[1] Vargas was eventually promoted to colonel and became the commander of Los Vaqueros, a special forces unit composed exclusively of uncorrupted employees who grew up in Los Almas.

At an unknown moment, presumably after Valeria's betrayal, he established contact with Kate Laswell and began to cooperate with her, even going so far as to call her "by name"[2], which indicates the level of mutual trust between them. He mentions that he has a family, but keeps their whereabouts a closely guarded secret to protect them from the retribution of corrupt elements of Mexican society.