The story of Osiel Cardenas Guillenreleased on August 30 from prison in the United States, is that of a character born into a humble family, who was a worker and mechanic before climbing the ranks in the world of organized crime.
On March 14, 2003, Osiel Cárdenas was arrested in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in a military operation.
He was considered by Mexico and the United States as the “heir” of Juan Garcia Abregoleader of the Gulf Carteldeported to the United States in 1996. Since then, he led the criminal organization with a presence in 13 states and located the cartel’s headquarters in Matamoros, his hometown.
In addition to the $2 million reward offered by the United States, the drug lords also put a price on his life. Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambadawho offered a million dollars to whoever would execute him.
The government of PAN member Felipe Calderón extradited him on January 20, 2007 to the United States, where he was wanted by a federal court in Texas, accused of drug trafficking and attempting to murder U.S. federal agents.
In 2010, Judge Hilda Tagle sentenced him to 25 years in prison, but on the recommendation of prosecutors, with whom Cárdenas made the plea deal, his sentence was reduced for good behavior and the years he spent in prison in Mexico were taken into account.
Its origins
The former leader of the Gulf Cartel was born on May 18, 1967 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and at the age of 30 he was already one of the most wanted men in the United States.
At the age of 14, Osiel went to live at his sister Lilia’s house and He dedicated himself to working as a mechanic’s assistant, waiter and employee of a maquila factoryaccording to statements from his wife, parents and siblings.
He studied until high school and at 18 he married Celia Salinas Aguilar, then an employee of a maquiladora, with whom he went to live in the mechanical workshop where she worked. It was there that he began to sell personal doses of cocaine.
The Zetas
Brutality was the trademark of Osiel Cárdenas, who created his armed wing The Zetasa group of hitmen made up of ex-military experts in explosives.
He was the one who introduced paramilitarism related to drug trafficking, with the creation of Los Zetas, and implemented new mechanisms to increase criminal income, Kidnapping, extortion and immigrant trafficking.
Following his extradition, the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas broke up, sparking a bloody war that led to states such as Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila suffering the worst levels of violence.
The narco-war led to the extinction of Los Zetas, whose founders were arrested or killed, and the Cárdenas family also disappeared from the leadership of the CDG.
For example, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillenalias “Tony Tormenta,” Osiel’s brother, assumed control of the cartel, but was killed by the Navy in 2010, in Matamoros.
Mario, his other brother, nicknamed “Don Mario” either “The M1”was arrested in 2012 in Altamira and extradited in 2022 to the United States. In 2023, Axel Alfredo and Alan Alexis Cárdenas Rodríguez, sons of Alfredo Cardenas Martinezalias “El Contador”, nephew of Osiel, who was captured in 2022.
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