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| “ | You can't threaten me, bitch! | „ |
| ~ Zapata trying to intimidate Alexandra Cabot |
Rafael Zapata is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Loss". He is a drug trafficker who rapes and murders an undercover federal agent and threatens the life of Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot.
He was portrayed by Jacinto Taras Riddick, who also portrayed Luis Pacheco in the original Law & Order.
Early life[]
Zapata is Colombian drug lord Cesar Velez's chief lieutenant, and the day-to-day leader and enforcer of his drug cartel. Prior to the events of the episode, he was arrested twice for murder and conspiracy to traffic narcotics, but both times the charges against him were dropped because Velez forced lower-ranking cartel members to confess to Zapata's crimes and go to prison in his stead, threatening to kill their families if they refused.
Hoping to finally catch him, the DEA planted undercover agent Livia Sandoval into Zapata's inner circle, and she became his lover to learn his secrets; she abused cocaine with him, as well, to get him to trust her. When she mocked his inability to get an erection after using cocaine, he flew into a rage, raped her, and stabbed her to death. He then dumped her body in an alley, dressed only in a fur coat.
"Loss"[]
While investigating Sandoval's murder, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler learn of her undercover status and her investigation of Zapata, although her DEA handler, Agent Tim Donovan, tells them to stay out of his investigation of Zapata, which has been ongoing for two years. They nevertheless get a search warrant for Zapata's yacht, search it while he is having a party, and arrest him after finding a mattress stained with Sandoval's blood.
Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot informs Zapata, in the presence of his lawyer, that she is going to seek the death penalty against him unless he testifies against Velez. When Zapata gloats that he can make the charges disappear, Cabot retorts that he won't get away with killing a woman, especially one who is a federal agent, for belittling his sexual prowess. Enraged, Zapata lunges at Cabot, threatening to kill her and her entire family; his behavior horrifies even his own lawyer, who has to forcibly restrain him.
True to his word, Zapata puts a hit out on Cabot and her mother. District Attorney Arthur Branch puts a protective detail on Cabot and her mother, while Donovan promises to testify against Zapata in the murder case, even if it complicates his own investigation. Moments later, however, Donovan is killed in a car bombing that Cabot, Benson, and Stabler suspect, but cannot prove, was set by Zapata. Branch orders Cabot to drop the murder charges against Zapata to prevent anyone else from getting killed, and she reluctantly complies. Immediately after she drops the charges, however, two FBI agents arrest Zapata for murdering Donovan.
Zapata makes a deal with the FBI to testify against Velez in return for a reduced sentence and witness protection. Before the deal can go through, however, Zapata was attacked and murdered in his holding cell, his throat slit by one of Valez's other lieutenants. Even after his death, however, Zapata manages to disrupt Cabot's life; Velez sends one of his assassins to kill her in a drive-by shooting, wounding her in the shoulder. She survives, but she decides to fake her own death and go into witness protection until Velez is imprisoned or "otherwise dealt with".
External links[]
- Rafael Zapata on the Law & Order Wiki
