Former Gulf Cartel Leader Released From US Prison

Cardenas Guillen was captured in 2003 and extradited to the United States four years later, where he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering. An official with the Federal Bureau of Prisons told AFP that Cardenas Guillen, 57, was released on Friday and taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He faces multiple charges in Mexico, but it is not yet known whether the US authorities will deport him. The Gulf Cartel was once one of Mexico’s most fearsome criminal groups, but has lost influence in recent years and fragmented into multiple factions. As the cartel’s leader, Cardenas Guillen oversaw a drug trafficking empire that exported vast quantities of cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to the United States. Nicknamed “El Mata Amigos” (Friend Killer), he recruited former Mexican special forces to form his personal guard, eventually operating independently as Los Zetas, one of the country’s most bloodthirsty gangs until its collapse. After his arrest in the northeastern border state of Tamaulipas, he was extradited to the United States in 2007, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and a $50 million fine in 2010. After his arrest, the Zetas began operating more independently until finally breaking with the Gulf Cartel in 2010, sparking a war for control of drug trafficking routes in eastern and northeastern Mexico.