MEXICO CITY- One of the most notorious drug lords in Mexico, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, has been freed from a U.S. jail after completing the majority of a 25-year sentence, according to confirmation from authorities on Friday. Cárdenas Guillén was freed from prison and sent over to the care of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson. That would usually imply that he would be sent back to Mexico for deportation. According to a Mexican official who wished to remain anonymous, Cárdenas Guillén is wanted on two arrest warrants in Mexico, so it’s possible that he will be arrested when he gets there.
Had not served his entire sentence
The savagery of the former Gulf cartel boss was well-known. He founded the Zetas, the most ruthless group of hitmen Mexico had ever seen, who regularly murdered innocent bystanders and migrants.
In 2010, Cárdenas Guillén was ordered to surrender tens of millions of dollars and was given a 25-year prison sentence. He had been extradited to the United States in January 2007, albeit it remained unclear why he had not served his entire sentence.
The 57-year-old, a native of Matamoros, Mexico, made millions of dollars and trafficked tons of cocaine through the Gulf cartel, which has its headquarters in Reynosa and Matamoros. Long after Cárdenas Guillén was apprehended in 2003, the Zetas continued to exist.
This is my territory
By 2010, the Zetas had established themselves as a distinct cartel, launching terror-style attacks as far south as Tabasco in Mexico, until the commanders were assassinated or detained in 2012–2013.
But after more than ten years of brutal infighting between factions with names like The Metros, The Cyclones, The Reds, and The Scorpions, Cárdenas Guillén’s own gang, the Gulf cartel, has become dangerously fragmented. near 1999, across from Brownsville, Texas, near the border city of Matamoros, Cárdenas Guillén ambushed and stopped a car with two agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and one of their informants.
His assailants aimed their firearms at the agents and insisted they turn over the informant, who would most likely be executed and subjected to torture. The agents declined, warning him that killing DEA officers would not be a wise choice. Eventually, Cárdenas Guillén reportedly told his shooters to go, but not before stating, “You gringos, this is my territory.”
