Juan García Abrego
Encyclopedia
Juan García Ábrego was a Mexican
drug lord
who started out his criminal career under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border now called the Gulf Cartel
.
United States intelligence reports state Guerra reared his nephew on car theft
before passing down his criminal enterprise. The exact date of succession is unknown, however law enforcement officials recall an incident on January 27, 1987 when Tomás Morlet, former officer in an elite Mexican police force turned national trafficker, exchanged harsh words with García Ábrego and was later found, shot twice in the back in the doorway of Guerra's Piedras Negras Restaurant.
into the U.S. states of Texas
, Louisiana
and Florida
. In the early 1980s he began incorporating cocaine
into the cartels trafficking
operations. García Ábrego is widely known for innovating Mexican trafficking operations, turning them from not only smugglers, into suppliers. By renegotiating his deal with the Cali Cartel
, García Ábrego was able to secure 50% of a shipment out of Colombia as payment for delivery, instead of the $1,500 USD per kilo they were previously receiving. The renegotiating however brought a price, the cartel would have to guarantee any shipment from Colombia to its destination. This change forced García Ábrego to begin stockpiling hundreds of tons of cocaine along Mexico's northern border in warehouses, however it allowed him to setup his own distribution network and expand his political influence. By the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s it was estimated García Ábrego was smuggling over 300 metric tons per year across the US-Mexico border.
Once the cocaine crossed the border into the United States it was believed to reach distribution networks across the country in cities such as San Antonio, Houston and New York City
, with smaller elements in Dallas, Chicago
, New Orleans, Oklahoma City
, California
and Arizona
.
In addition to transporting cocaine for the Cali Cartel, it was believed the García Ábrego cartel would also ship large quantities of cash to be laundered
. The United States Department of Justice
would confiscate over $53 million USD between 1989 to 1993 that was being laundered through two corrupt American Express
employees as proof of such large scale operations. In 1994 the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) believed García Ábrego was making as much as $10 billion USD per year in profit. The following years Fortune Magazine estimated the García Ábrego empire to be worth $15 billion USD.
García Ábrego was also involved in providing protection to other cartels wishing to operate within corridors already claimed by his organization. In the mid 1980s, Carlos Reséndez setup a meeting between García Ábrego and Gernando "El Aguacate" Martínez, regarding permission for Martínez to move cocaine through Matamoros. García Ábrego permitted him to do so in exchange for $200k USD per airplane flying through the region. It was later revealed to García Ábrego that Martínez began moving planes through the region without paying the fee. García Ábrego reached out to an FBI agent, Claudio de la O, who he was bribing, to have the men taken care of. Claudio de la O alluded to having the men killed, however they were taken into custody.
government. Upon García Ábrego's arrest a book detailing the scale of bribery was located. From examining the contents it became known that the head of Federal Judicial Police
(FJP) was receiving $1 million USD, force operations chief was receiving $500,000 USD and the federal police commander of the Gulf Cartels base of operations in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
, was receiving $100,000 USD. The book detailed the payments less as bribes and more as what García Ábrego would consider to be a tax
on business. In an article published in the Mexican daily El Financiero it was alleged García Ábrego had infiltrated 95% of the Attorney Generals Office
. It would later be revealed that a commander in the Procuraduria General de la Republica (the federal attorney-general's office, PGR), López Parra, was receiving $1.5 million per month in bribes; López Parra was the head of northern Mexico.
García Ábrego's ties however extended beyond the Mexican government and into the United States. With the arrest of one of García Ábrego's traffickers, Juan Antonio Ortiz, it became known the cartel would ship tons of cocaine in United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) buses between the years of 1986 to 1990. The buses made great transportation, as Antonio Ortiz noted, since they were never stopped at the border. In addition to the INS bus scam, García Ábrego had a "special deal" with members of the Texas National Guard
who would truck tons of cocaine and marijuana from South Texas to Houston for the cartel.
García Ábrego's reach became known when he attempted to bribe a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) agent named Claude de la O, in 1986, in an attempt to gather information on U.S. law enforcement operations. Claude de la O has stated in testimony against García Ábrego that he received over $100,000 USD in bribes and had leaked information that could have endangered an FBI informant as well as Mexican journalists. In 1989 Claude was removed from the case for unknown reasons, retiring a year later.
García Ábrego's arrest was even subject to allegations of corruption. It is believed the Mexican government knew all García Ábrego's whereabouts all along and had refused to arrest him due to information he possessed about the extent of corruption within the government. The arresting officer, a FJP commander, is believed to have received a bullet-proof Mercury Grand Marquis
and $500,000 USD from a rival cartel for enacting the arrest of García Ábrego.
Further theories put forward allege the arrest of García Ábrego was to satisfy U.S. demands and meet certification, from the Department of Justice
(DOJ), as a trade partner, the vote set to take place on March 1. García Ábrego was apprehended on January 14, 1996, and Mexico shortly after received certification on March 1.
Two years after the 1984 clinic shoot out, Ernesto Flores, an editor for the Mexican daily newspaper El Popular, was executed. It is believed García Ábrego did it after being aggravated with their coverage of the cartel's deeds. Flores car was sprayed with gunfire as gunmen
waited at the entrance of the newspaper. Norma Morena
, a reporter for the newspaper was also killed in the attack.
In 1991, a principal member of the Gulf Cartel, Tomás "Gringo" Sánchez, ordered the killing of a Colombian drug trafficker who was in a prison in Matamoros. The killing was not authorized by García Ábrego and subsequently a riot broke out killing two members of the Gulf Cartel. García Ábrego, furious with the media attention that followed the riot, ordered the killing of Sánchez for over stepping his authority and bringing unwanted attention to the cartel.
Top Ten Most Wanted List in 1995. He has the distinction of being the first drug trafficker
to ever be placed on that list. He was arrested on a ranch outside of Monterrey
, Nuevo León
, on January 14, 1996. He was quickly extradited to the United States, where he stood trial eight months after his arrest. García Ábrego was convicted on 22 counts including money laundering, drug trafficking, intent to distribute and running and ongoing criminal enterprise. After a four-week trial, a jury needed only 12 hours to convict García Ábrego on all charges. He was sentenced by presiding judge Ewing Werlein, Jr.
, to 11 consecutive life terms, and is currently incarcerated at ADX Florence
. In addition to the prison sentencing García Ábrego was forced to turn over millions in illegal proceeds, the United States Government requested $1.05 billion USD, however the jury after an hour of deliberation only agreed to the $350 million USD. García Ábrego's lawyer, Mr. Canales, stated it was a "a symbolic grab at nothing" since García Ábrego did not reside in the United States nor have any assets in the country.
Prior to García Ábrego's arrest he had been discussing terms in which he would surrender to authorities. Those terms included medical treatment for his jailed brother's diabetes, one last trip to Colombia before his surrender, conjugal visits from his mistress, to be jailed in Guadalajara, Jalisco
, with some of his lieutenants, for his own protection and to allow himself to be taken in by the police commander of his choice. Mexican government officials however denied the requests.
took over the cartel. Cárdenas was known for founding the para-military group Los Zetas
as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. Cárdenas was captured by the Mexican Army after a battle on March 14, 2003 in Matamoros.
In February 2010, Los Zetas engaged in a violent turf war against is former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel, in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, rendering some border towns to "ghost towns".
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
who started out his criminal career under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra was a Mexican drug lord and smuggler who co-founded the Gulf Cartel with his nephew Juan García Ábrego. He is often considered the "godfather" of U.S-Mexico border mafias.-Biography:...
, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border now called the Gulf Cartel
Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country...
.
United States intelligence reports state Guerra reared his nephew on car theft
Motor vehicle theft
Motor vehicle theft is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle...
before passing down his criminal enterprise. The exact date of succession is unknown, however law enforcement officials recall an incident on January 27, 1987 when Tomás Morlet, former officer in an elite Mexican police force turned national trafficker, exchanged harsh words with García Ábrego and was later found, shot twice in the back in the doorway of Guerra's Piedras Negras Restaurant.
Criminal career
Reports date his trafficking career beginning in the mid 1970s exporting marijuana from MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
into the U.S. states of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. In the early 1980s he began incorporating cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
into the cartels trafficking
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
operations. García Ábrego is widely known for innovating Mexican trafficking operations, turning them from not only smugglers, into suppliers. By renegotiating his deal with the Cali Cartel
Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. The Cali Cartel was founded by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, as well as associate José Santacruz Londoño...
, García Ábrego was able to secure 50% of a shipment out of Colombia as payment for delivery, instead of the $1,500 USD per kilo they were previously receiving. The renegotiating however brought a price, the cartel would have to guarantee any shipment from Colombia to its destination. This change forced García Ábrego to begin stockpiling hundreds of tons of cocaine along Mexico's northern border in warehouses, however it allowed him to setup his own distribution network and expand his political influence. By the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s it was estimated García Ábrego was smuggling over 300 metric tons per year across the US-Mexico border.
Once the cocaine crossed the border into the United States it was believed to reach distribution networks across the country in cities such as San Antonio, Houston and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with smaller elements in Dallas, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, New Orleans, Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
In addition to transporting cocaine for the Cali Cartel, it was believed the García Ábrego cartel would also ship large quantities of cash to be laundered
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
. The United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
would confiscate over $53 million USD between 1989 to 1993 that was being laundered through two corrupt American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
employees as proof of such large scale operations. In 1994 the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA) believed García Ábrego was making as much as $10 billion USD per year in profit. The following years Fortune Magazine estimated the García Ábrego empire to be worth $15 billion USD.
García Ábrego was also involved in providing protection to other cartels wishing to operate within corridors already claimed by his organization. In the mid 1980s, Carlos Reséndez setup a meeting between García Ábrego and Gernando "El Aguacate" Martínez, regarding permission for Martínez to move cocaine through Matamoros. García Ábrego permitted him to do so in exchange for $200k USD per airplane flying through the region. It was later revealed to García Ábrego that Martínez began moving planes through the region without paying the fee. García Ábrego reached out to an FBI agent, Claudio de la O, who he was bribing, to have the men taken care of. Claudio de la O alluded to having the men killed, however they were taken into custody.
Corruption
Juan García Ábrego's web of corruption was believed to stretch to all aspects of the Ernesto ZedilloErnesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
government. Upon García Ábrego's arrest a book detailing the scale of bribery was located. From examining the contents it became known that the head of Federal Judicial Police
Federal Judicial Police
The Federal Judicial Police was the former federal police force of Mexico.The jurisdiction of the Federal Judicial Police encompasses the entire nation and was divided into thirteen zones with fifty-two smaller detachment headquarters...
(FJP) was receiving $1 million USD, force operations chief was receiving $500,000 USD and the federal police commander of the Gulf Cartels base of operations in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, was receiving $100,000 USD. The book detailed the payments less as bribes and more as what García Ábrego would consider to be a tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
on business. In an article published in the Mexican daily El Financiero it was alleged García Ábrego had infiltrated 95% of the Attorney Generals Office
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
. It would later be revealed that a commander in the Procuraduria General de la Republica (the federal attorney-general's office, PGR), López Parra, was receiving $1.5 million per month in bribes; López Parra was the head of northern Mexico.
García Ábrego's ties however extended beyond the Mexican government and into the United States. With the arrest of one of García Ábrego's traffickers, Juan Antonio Ortiz, it became known the cartel would ship tons of cocaine in United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
(INS) buses between the years of 1986 to 1990. The buses made great transportation, as Antonio Ortiz noted, since they were never stopped at the border. In addition to the INS bus scam, García Ábrego had a "special deal" with members of the Texas National Guard
Texas National Guard
The Texas National Guard consists of the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. The Guard is administered by the adjutant general, an appointee of the governor of Texas. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state...
who would truck tons of cocaine and marijuana from South Texas to Houston for the cartel.
García Ábrego's reach became known when he attempted to bribe a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) agent named Claude de la O, in 1986, in an attempt to gather information on U.S. law enforcement operations. Claude de la O has stated in testimony against García Ábrego that he received over $100,000 USD in bribes and had leaked information that could have endangered an FBI informant as well as Mexican journalists. In 1989 Claude was removed from the case for unknown reasons, retiring a year later.
García Ábrego's arrest was even subject to allegations of corruption. It is believed the Mexican government knew all García Ábrego's whereabouts all along and had refused to arrest him due to information he possessed about the extent of corruption within the government. The arresting officer, a FJP commander, is believed to have received a bullet-proof Mercury Grand Marquis
Mercury Grand Marquis
The Mercury Grand Marquis was a full-size rear-wheel drive sedan sold by the Lincoln-Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company; the Grand Marquis was the flagship of the Mercury lineup. The nameplate itself had been in use since 1975 as the premium trim level of the Mercury Marquis; the Grand...
and $500,000 USD from a rival cartel for enacting the arrest of García Ábrego.
Further theories put forward allege the arrest of García Ábrego was to satisfy U.S. demands and meet certification, from the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
(DOJ), as a trade partner, the vote set to take place on March 1. García Ábrego was apprehended on January 14, 1996, and Mexico shortly after received certification on March 1.
Enforcement
On May 16, 1984, it is believed García Ábrego ordered a hit on rival trafficker Casimiro Espinosa, the murder attempt failed, leaving Casimiro injured. The following day gunmen shot their way into Raya Clinic, a private hospital, looking for Casimiro. In the ten-minute shootout that followed, 300 rounds had been fired and multiple people were left dead, including a security guard, a husband and child, and a bed-ridden woman. Casimiro died the following day due to injuries sustained in the shoot out.Two years after the 1984 clinic shoot out, Ernesto Flores, an editor for the Mexican daily newspaper El Popular, was executed. It is believed García Ábrego did it after being aggravated with their coverage of the cartel's deeds. Flores car was sprayed with gunfire as gunmen
Contract killing
Contract killing is a form of murder, in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for consideration, monetary, or otherwise. The hiring party may...
waited at the entrance of the newspaper. Norma Morena
Norma Alicia Moreno Figueroa
Norma Alicia Moreno Figueroa was a Mexican journalist. She is notable for being the first Mexican woman journalist to die violently because of her work as a journalist covering the Mexican Drug War.- Birth and Early Life :...
, a reporter for the newspaper was also killed in the attack.
In 1991, a principal member of the Gulf Cartel, Tomás "Gringo" Sánchez, ordered the killing of a Colombian drug trafficker who was in a prison in Matamoros. The killing was not authorized by García Ábrego and subsequently a riot broke out killing two members of the Gulf Cartel. García Ábrego, furious with the media attention that followed the riot, ordered the killing of Sánchez for over stepping his authority and bringing unwanted attention to the cartel.
Arrest
Juan García Ábrego had grown to such lengths that he was placed on the United States Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
Top Ten Most Wanted List in 1995. He has the distinction of being the first drug trafficker
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
to ever be placed on that list. He was arrested on a ranch outside of Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
, on January 14, 1996. He was quickly extradited to the United States, where he stood trial eight months after his arrest. García Ábrego was convicted on 22 counts including money laundering, drug trafficking, intent to distribute and running and ongoing criminal enterprise. After a four-week trial, a jury needed only 12 hours to convict García Ábrego on all charges. He was sentenced by presiding judge Ewing Werlein, Jr.
Ewing Werlein, Jr.
-Early life, education, and career:Born in Houston, Texas, Werlein received a B.A. from Southern Methodist University in 1958 and an LL.B. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1961...
, to 11 consecutive life terms, and is currently incarcerated at ADX Florence
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is a supermax prison for men that is located in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado, United States, south of Florence. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies...
. In addition to the prison sentencing García Ábrego was forced to turn over millions in illegal proceeds, the United States Government requested $1.05 billion USD, however the jury after an hour of deliberation only agreed to the $350 million USD. García Ábrego's lawyer, Mr. Canales, stated it was a "a symbolic grab at nothing" since García Ábrego did not reside in the United States nor have any assets in the country.
Prior to García Ábrego's arrest he had been discussing terms in which he would surrender to authorities. Those terms included medical treatment for his jailed brother's diabetes, one last trip to Colombia before his surrender, conjugal visits from his mistress, to be jailed in Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, with some of his lieutenants, for his own protection and to allow himself to be taken in by the police commander of his choice. Mexican government officials however denied the requests.
Gulf Cartel post-Ábrego
Following the arrest of García Ábrego, Osiel Cárdenas GuillenOsiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
took over the cartel. Cárdenas was known for founding the para-military group Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. Cárdenas was captured by the Mexican Army after a battle on March 14, 2003 in Matamoros.
In February 2010, Los Zetas engaged in a violent turf war against is former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel, in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, rendering some border towns to "ghost towns".