Despite its notoriety, the Gulf Cartel has lost territory and influence in recent years thanks to battles against rivals including Los Zetas, the gangs former military wing. It is clear, however, that after the capture and extradition of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, Los Zetas outclassed the Gulf Cartel in revenue, membership, and influence. [132] Other sources mention that one news reporter was also killed in the crossfire. [292] The Mexican military mentioned that in the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, where the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas fight for territory, abductions are carried out very commonly. Cano Flores, also known as "Yeyo", was a former Mexican police officer and is the highest-ranking Gulf Cartel member to be convicted by a U.S. jury in 15 years. They began to organize kidnappings;[71] impose taxes, collect debts, and operate protection rackets;[72] control the extortion business;[73] securing cocaine supply and trafficking routes known as plazas (zones) and executing its foes, often with grotesque savagery. Reports said though the Gulf Cartel is very notorious in Mexico, it has eventually been losing its territory in the recent past, mainly because of battles against rivals including Los Zetas, the gang's former military wing. In goes into the extent, in a recent book called Tamaulipas; La casta de los narcogobernadores: un eastern mexicano is accused of being present while former governor Tomas Yarrington, also accused of involvements with DTOs of the Gulf Cartel, received illicit money from the Gulf Cartel to finance its campaign for governor. [24] On 14 January 1996, García Ábrego was arrested outside a ranch in Monterrey, Nuevo León. [175] Cárdenas Vela had held a grudge on Flores Borrego and the Metros because he believed that they had led the Mexican military to track down and kill his uncle Antonio Cárdenas Guillén on 5 November 2010. [76], In 2002, there were three main divisions of the Cartel, all ruled over by Cárdenas and led by: Jorge Eduardo "El Coss" Costilla Sanchez, Antonio "Tony Tormenta" Cárdenas Guillen, and Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano Lazcano. [337], Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar, a top-tier Los Zetas boss, was caught on 3 July 2011, and claimed in an interview that was aired on national television that the Gulf Cartel, unlike Los Zetas, has an "easier and quicker access to arms in the United States", and probably works "with some people in the government" to traffic weapons south of the U.S. With the arrest of one of García Ábrego's traffickers, Juan Antonio Ortiz, it became known the cartel would ship tons of cocaine in the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) buses between the years of 1986 to 1990. Leadership [190] Reports indicated that the Gulf Cartel was using the BlackBerry smartphones to communicate with 'Ndrangheta, since the texts are "normally difficult to intercept". The cartel was founded by bootlegger Juan Nepomuceno Guerra in the 1930s, during the Prohibition era in the United States. [22][23], García Ábrego's business had grown to such length that the FBI placed him on the Top Ten Most Wanted in 1995. [333][334][335] Nonetheless, there are indeed circles within the Gulf Cartel that coordinate the arms trafficking routes inside Mexico. Critics say that the strategy of capturing drug kingpins often resulted in the increase in extortion, as the cartels look for other sources of money. [47] He was to be replaced by Óscar Malherbe de León and Raúl Valladares del Ángel, until their arrest a short time later,[48] causing several cartel lieutenants to fight for the leadership. There is a circle of experts who believe that the start of the Mexican Drug War did not begin in 2006 (when Felipe Calderón sent troops to Michoacán to stop the increasing violence), but in 2004 in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, when the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas fought off the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Negros. [210] The massacre of the 72 migrants and the clandestine mass graves with more than 250 bodies in San Fernando, Tamaulipas,[211][212] mounted with the assassination of the governor candidate Rodolfo Torre Cantú (2010),[213] the increasing violence generated between drug groups, and the state's inability to ensure tranquility, has led specialists to conclude that "neither the regional nor federal government have control over the territory of Tamaulipas. García Ábrego bribed the agent in an attempt to gather more information on U.S. law enforcement operations. The Gulf Cartel’s origins can be traced to 1984, when Juan Garcia Abrego assumed control of his uncle’s drug trafficking business, then a relatively small-time marijuana and heroin operation. Reports indicate that gunmen from the Gulf Cartel often impersonate law enforcement officers, using military uniforms to confuse rival drug gangs and move freely through city streets. Prostitution circles are believed to be used by the Gulf Cartel to persuade journalists to favor them in the media. [226] In addition, La Jornada mentions that the Gulf Cartel owns "all of Matamoros", where they act as the State itself and conduct all forms of criminal activities. "[256] The Joint Operation Nuevo León-Tamaulipas issued in 2007, along with several other military-led operation by the federal government, have brought thousands of troops to restore order in Tamaulipas. [271] Mario Cárdenas Guillén, brother of both Osiel and Antonio, became one of the top lieutenants in the organization after his release from prison in 2007. Garcia Abrego brokered a deal with the Cali Cartel, the Colombian mega-structure that was looking for new entry routes into the US market after facing a clampdown on their Caribbean routes by US law enforcement. [114], Nevertheless, other sources also reveal that Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, brother of Osiel and one of the successors of the Gulf Cartel, was addicted to gambling, sex, and drugs, leading Los Zetas to consider his leadership as a threat to the organization. [86] According to government archives, this six-month military operation was planned and carried out in secret; the only people informed were the President Vicente Fox, the Secretary of Defense in Mexico, Ricardo Clemente Vega García, and Mexico's Attorney General, Rafael Macedo de la Concha. [107], Nearly $30 million of the former drug lord's assets were distributed among several Texan law enforcement agencies. Garcia Abrego brokered a deal with the Cali Cartel, the Colombian mega-structure that was looking for new entry routes into the US market after facing a clampdown on their Caribbean routes by US law enforcement. [94] Lieutenants that were once loyal to Cárdenas began following the commands of Lazcano, who tried to reorganize the cartel by appointing several lieutenants to control specific territories.Morales Treviño was appointed to look over Nuevo León;[95] Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez in Matamoros;[96] Héctor Manuel Sauceda Gamboa, nicknamed El Karis, took control of Nuevo Laredo;[97] Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, known as El Goyo, along with his brother Arturo, took control of the Reynosa plaza;[98] Arturo Basurto Peña, alias El Grande, and Iván Velázquez-Caballero alias El Talibán took control of Quintana Roo and Guerrero;[99] Alberto Sánchez Hinojosa, alias Comandante Castillo, took over Tabasco. In fact, they are paid around $3,618 pesos (about US$260) a month in all of Tamaulipas. [135], The confrontations started around 10:00 am, and extended to 06:00 pm, around the time Cárdenas Guilén was killed. Flemming, Gary. The Gulf cartel differs from its rivals in that it's composed of these families that have been involved in smuggling and who have lived in these communities for many, many years. He was the first drug trafficker to be on that list. When the hostilities began, the Gulf organization joined forces with its former rivals, the Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Michoacana, aiming to take out Los Zetas. Their network is international, and are believed to have dealings with crime groups in Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, and the United States. [319], FBI agents have claimed that the Gulf Cartel moves millions of dollars in cash through the Rio Grande Valley each month, a tempting amount for many U.S. [191] In 2009, the Gulf organization concluded that expanding their market opportunities in Europe, combined with the euro strength against the U.S. dollar, justified establishing an extensive network in that continent. [118] Other sources mention that what initiated the conflict between them was when Samuel Flores Borrego, alias El Metro 3, lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel, killed Sergio Peña Mendoza, alias El Concorde 3, lieutenant of Los Zetas, due to a disagreement for the drug corridor of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, whom both protected. [36] Hours after the judge told García Ábrego that he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, the death penalty was out of the question for the prosecutors. "[229] Luebbert Gutiérrez later recognized the work of the federal troops and acknowledged that his city was experiencing "an escalation in violence. Eventually, Julián Manuel Loisa Salinas, alias “El Comandante Toro,” assumed leadership of the group and commanded a group of hitmen in the border town of Reynosa in the Gulf Cartel’s traditional hub of Tamaulipas. [174], In the late 1990s, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the Gulf cartel, had other similar groups besides Los Zetas established in several cities in Tamaulipas. [242] On 5 April 2010, in the same prison, a convoy of 10 trucks filled with gunmen broke into the cells and liberated 13 inmates, and the authorities later mentioned that 11 of them were "extremely dangerous. Some of the revenue of the Gulf Cartel is often laundered in several bank accounts, properties, vehicles, and gasoline stations. Shortly after that, the Mexican Army captured yet another Gulf Cartel leader, José Antonio Romo López, alias “La Hamburguesa,” in May of that same year, again throwing the leadership of the group into uncertainty. [258] On 7 November 2011, about 1,660 policemen were released from their duties because they had either failed their control tests or refused to take them. [75] The group operated similar to Los Zetas, but with less complexity and success. Guadalajara cartel (defunct) The Gulf cartel ( Spanish: Cártel del Golfo) was a Mexican drug trafficking organization and one of the country's oldest drug cartels. [130] However, Antonio died in an eight-hour shooting with the Mexican government forces on 5 November 2010, in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Unbelievable! [53] The next in line was Sergio Gómez alias El Checo, however, his leadership was short lived when he was assassinated in April 1996 in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas. [272] In addition, within the Gulf Cartel there is believed to be two groups—the Rojos and the Metros. The Nuevo Laredo region is an important drug trafficking corridor into Laredo, Texas, where as much as 40% of all Mexican exports pass through into the U.S. "[249] In a prison in the state of Zacatecas, on 16 May 2009, an armed commando liberated 53 Gulf Cartel members using 10 trucks and even a helicopter. [327], Money laundering [137] Public transportation and school classes in Matamoros were canceled, along with the suspension of activities throughout the municipality, since the cartel members hijacked the units of public transport and made dozens of roadblocks to prevent the mobilization of the soldiers, marines, and federal police forces. President Lopez Obrador’s administration has said that the government is making progress in fighting crime. [184] The arrest of several Gulf Cartel lieutenants, along with the drug-related violence and kidnappings, have raised concerns among Texas officials that the drug war in Mexico and the drug cartels are taking hold in Texas. "[34] He also had an official birth certificate that claimed García Ábrego was indeed born in Mexico. "[230], On 5 June 2016, citizens from Tamaulipas elected a governor from the opposition party, Fransico Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca member of Accion Nacional (National Action). [59] Among his first contacts was Arturo Guzmán Decena, an Army lieutenant who was reportedly asked by Cárdenas to look for the "best men possible. [285], Protection racketeering The intense shootings provoked the temporary closure of three international bridges in Matamoros,[136] along with the University of Texas at Brownsville, just across the border. [274] Below is the basic structure of the cartel: It's worth noting that there are other operating groups within the drug cartels. It’s unclear where exactly the group’s leadership stands now, but alliances with smaller splinter cells and fortifying their traditional bases of operations have allowed the Gulf Cartel to retain a significant place in Mexico’s organized crime landscape. Mexico arrests ‘Gulf drug cartel leader’ Man said to be Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, one of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords, arrested and presented to public. 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