García Mena sought support from Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the leader of the Gulf Cartel, to try to oust both López Salinas and López Falcón, both of whom sought the support of rival organized crime groups. from Tamaulipas, a corridor through which García Mena primarily smuggled marijuana. The conflict started after López Falcón began diversifying the Gulf Cartel's portfolio and smuggling cocaine to the U.S. In the late 1990s, however, López Falcón and García Mena entered into conflict with one another. López Falcón allowed this because he preferred to not be linked to that part of the business. Although López Salinas reported directly to his cousin, murder operations conducted by López Salinas and his faction were ordered directly by the drug lord Gilberto García Mena ("El June"), to whom both reported. In the 1990s, he was reportedly a member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, and worked under his cousin Edelio López Falcón ("El Yeyo") as his top enforcer and his personal bodyguard, and was responsible for managing his security services. Rolando López Salinas, also known by his nickname "El Rolis", was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico between 19.
Investigators suspect he was murdered by members of his own cartel. His assassins left a sign at the crime scene warning other cartel members that they would be killed if they did not surrender. On 4 September 2018, gunmen kidnapped López Salinas in San Pedro Garza García his corpse was found a few days later, bearing visible signs of torture.
In 2015, law enforcement agencies identified him as the head of the cartel in Monterrey and San Pedro Garza García. López Salinas eventually joined the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, a criminal group that arose from the remnants of the Sinaloa Cartel, and became one of its senior members. After López Falcón came into conflict with the cartel's leadership, both he and López Salinas broke ties with the cartel and forged alliances with rival criminal groups. During his criminal career, López Salinas survived two assassination attempts-one in 1999 and another in 2000-which were reportedly triggered by his differences with Gilberto García Mena, a former cartel boss. López Salinas started his criminal career as the right-hand man of his cousin Edelio López Falcón and was in charge of his security services, and later became involved in drug trafficking operations. Rolando López Salinas (1948/1953 – September 2018), also known as El Rolis, was a Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico.