Osiel Cárdenas Guillén: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Mexican drug lord incarcerated in a US federal prison}}

{{Spanishfamily name hatnote|Cárdenas|Guillén|lang=Spanish}}

{{Infobox personcriminal

'''Osiel Cárdenas Guillén''' (born 18 May 1967) is a Mexican drug lord and the former leader of the [[Gulf Cartel]] and [[Los Zetas]]. Originally a mechanic in [[Matamoros, Tamaulipas]], he entered the cartel by killing [[Juan García Abrego]]'s friend and competitor Salvador Gómez, after the former's arrest in 1996. As confrontations with rival groups heated up, Osiel Cárdenas sought and recruited over 30 deserters from the ''[[Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales]]'' to form the cartel's armed wing.<ref>{{cite news|title=‘Los'Los Zetas’Zetas' se salen de control|url=http://www.eluniversal.mx/nacion/156964.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425031613/http://www.eluniversal.mx/nacion/156964.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 April 2012|accessdateaccess-date=1 December 2011|newspaper=[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]]}}</ref> Los Zetas served as the hired private mercenary army of the Gulf Cartel.

After a shootout with the Mexican military in 2003, Cárdenas was arrested and imprisoned. In 2007 he was extradited to the U.S. and in 2010 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for money laundering, drug trafficking, homicide, and for having [[1999 Matamoros standoff|threatened two U.S. federal agents in 1999]].<ref name="mexico.cnn.com">{{cite news|title=El origen de 'Los Zetas': brazo armado del cártel del Golfo|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/07/05/el-origen-de-los-zetas-brazo-armado-del-cartel-del-golfo|accessdateaccess-date=9 May 2012|newspaper=[[CNN en Español|CNNMéxico]]|date=5 July 2011|language=es|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128174447/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/07/05/el-origen-de-los-zetas-brazo-armado-del-cartel-del-golfo|archivedatearchive-date=28 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FindLaw's United States Fifth Circuit case and opinions. |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1567947.html |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=Findlaw |language=en-US}}</ref> His brother, [[Mario Cárdenas Guillén]], worked for the Gulf Cartel, as did another brother, [[Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén]], who was killed by Mexican Marines on 5 November 2010. He is currently imprisoned at [[USP FlorenceTerre HighHaute]] with a release date of 202530 August 2024. His inmate number is 62604–079.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ |title=Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Federal Bureau of Prisons |publisher=United States Department of Justice |access-date=17 April 2020 |quote=BOP Register Number: 62604-079.}}</ref>

==Arrest of ÁbregoGarcía Abrego==

Following [[Juan García ÁbregoAbrego]]'s 1996 arrest by Mexican authorities and subsequent deportationextradition to the United States, his brother Humberto García ÁbregoAbrego tried to take over the leadership of the [[Gulf Cartel]] but ultimately failed in his attempt.<ref>{{cite news|last=Castillo|first=Gustavo|title=Desplazan a los García Ábrego en liderato del cártel del Golfo|url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/05/02/politica/021n1pol|newspaper=[[La Jornada]]|date=2 May 2009}}</ref> He did not have the leadership skills nor the support of the Colombian drug-provisioners. In addition, he was under observation and was widely known; his surname meant this would continue.<ref>{{cite news|last=Alzaga|first=Ignacio|title=Relegan a familia de García Ábrego en cártel del Golfo|url=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8568516|newspaper=Milenio Noticias|date=2009-05-01|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518012741/http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8568516|archivedatearchive-date=2011-05-18}}</ref> He was to be replaced by [[Óscar Malherbe de León]] and Raúl Valladares del Ángel, until their arrest a short time later.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weiner|first=Tim|title=Mexico Agrees To Extradite Drug Suspect To California|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/19/world/mexico-agrees-to-extradite-drug-suspect-to-california.html|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=19 January 2001}}</ref> This led several cartel lieutenants to fight for the leadership. Malherbe tried to bribe officials with $2 million to obtain his release, but it was denied.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lupsha|first=Peter|title=A Chronology {{!}} Murder, Money, & Mexico|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mexico/etc/cron.html|publisher=[[University of New Mexico]]}}</ref> [[Hugo Baldomero Medina Garza]], known as ''El Señor de los Tráilers'', is considered one of the most important members of the Gulf Cartel.<ref>{{cite news|last=Medellín|first=Alejandro|title=Medina Garza en 'La Palma'|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=46900&tabla=nacion|newspaper=El Universal|date=4 February 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328092001/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=46900&tabla=nacion|archivedatearchive-date=2012-03-28}}</ref> He was one of the top cartel officials for more than 40 years, trafficking about {{cvt|20|LT|ST}} of cocaine to the United States each month.<ref>{{cite web|last=Zendejas|first=Gabriel|title=Detectan a poderoso capo del Cártel del Golfo|url=http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n681175.htm|publisher=La Prensa|accessdateaccess-date=30 April 2008|archive-date=11 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011094057/http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n681175.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> His luck ended in November 2000 when he was captured in [[Tampico]], Tamaulipas and imprisoned in [[Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1|La Palma]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Ruiz|first=José Luis|title=Caen 21 miembros de cártel del Golfo|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=5327&tabla=primera|newspaper=El Universal|date=3 April 2001|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328092024/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=5327&tabla=primera|archivedatearchive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> After Medina Garza's arrest, his cousin Adalberto Garza Dragustinovis was investigated for allegedly forming part of the Gulf Cartel and for laundering money; this case is still open.<ref>{{cite news|title=Indagan a familiar de El Señor de los Tráileres|url=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8055762|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716191638/http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8055762|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 July 2012|newspaper=Milenio Noticias|date=18 November 2008}}</ref> 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|Valle Hermoso]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Ramírez|first=Ignacio|title=La disputa del narcopoder|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=19691&tabla=nacion|newspaper=El Universal|date=10 April 2000|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328092114/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=19691&tabla=nacion|archivedatearchive-date=2012-03-28}}</ref> After this, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén took control of the cartel in July 1999 after assassinating Salvador Gómez Herrera alias ''El Chava'', co-leader of the Gulf Cartel and his close friend, earning his nickname ''Mata Amigos'' (Friend Killer).<ref>{{cite news|title=Desde las entrañas del Ejército, Los Zetas|url=http://www.blogdelnarco.info/desde-las-entranas-del-ejercito-los-zetas/|newspaper=Blog del Narco|date=23 May 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225120907/http://www.blogdelnarco.info/desde-las-entranas-del-ejercito-los-zetas/|archivedatearchive-date=25 December 2010}}</ref>

In 1997, the Gulf Cartel began to recruit military personnel that [[José de Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo|Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo]], an army general of that time, had assigned as representatives from the [[Attorney General of Mexico]]'s offices in certain states across Mexico. After his imprisonment a short time later, Jorge Madrazo Cuéllar created the National Public Security System (SNSP), to fight the drug cartels along the [[Mexico–United States border|U.S-Mexico border]]. After [[Osiel Cárdenas]] took full control of the Gulf Cartel in 1999, he found himself in a no-holds-barred fight to keep his notorious organization and leadership untouched, and sought out members of the [[Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales|Mexican Army Special Forces]] to become the military armed-wing of the Gulf Cartel.<ref>{{cite news|title=¿Quienes son los Zetas? |url=http://www.blogdelnarco.info/%C2%BFquienes-son-los-zetas/ |newspaper=[[Blog del Narco]] |date=7 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729042942/http://www.blogdelnarco.info/%C2%BFquienes-son-los-zetas/ |archivedatearchive-date=29 July 2011 }}</ref> His goal was to protect himself from rival drug cartels and from the Mexican military, in order to perform vital functions as the leader of the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cártel de 'Los Zetas'|url=http://www.mundonarco.com/2011/01/cartel-del-los-zetas.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118032606/http://www.mundonarco.com/2011/01/cartel-del-los-zetas.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 January 2011|newspaper=Mundo Narco|date=2011-01-15}}</ref> Among his first contacts was [[Arturo Guzmán Decena]], an Army lieutenant who was reportedly asked by Cárdenas Guillén to look for the "best men possible".<ref name="Grayson">{{cite book|last=Grayson|first=George W.|title=Mexico: narco-violence and a failed state?|year=2010|publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]]|isbn=978-1-4128-1151-14|pages=339|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogjkeCd7RGoC&pgq=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=cardenas+reportedly+told+lt.+arturo+guzman+decenas+that+he+wanted+the+best+men+possible&sourcepg=bl&ots=0lINAv5TIz&sig=UyVJinHOjXdRDIJtUtXpSyIIa5U&hl=en&ei=WZ7hTsbkIcTz0gHe3LD9BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=wanted%20the%20best%20men%20possible&f=falsePA180}}</ref> Consequently, Guzmán Decenas deserted from the Armed Forces and brought more than 30 army deserters with him to form part of Cárdenas Guillén’Cárdenas’ new criminal paramilitary wing.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tobar|first=Hector|title=A cartel army's war within|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/20/world/fg-zetas20|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=20 May 2007}}</ref> They were enticed with salaries much higher than those paid by the Mexican Army.<ref>{{cite news|title=Los Zetas and Mexico's Transnational Drug War|url=http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/04/los-zetas-and-mexicos-transnational.html|accessdateaccess-date=9 December 2011|newspaper=[[Borderland Beat]]}}</ref> Among the original defectors were [[Jaime González Durán]],<ref>{{cite news| title=Los 'grandes capos' detenidos en la guerra contra el narcotráfico de Calderón| url=http://www.cnn.mx/nacional/2010/09/02/jaime-gonzalez-duran-el-hummer| newspaper=[[CNN México]]| date=6 November 2010 <!-- , 07:51pm -->| url-status=dead| archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313101448/http://www.cnn.mx/nacional/2010/09/02/jaime-gonzalez-duran-el-hummer| archivedatearchive-date=13 March 2012}}</ref> [[Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Video Interrogatorio de Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar "El Mamito"|url=http://www.mundonarco.com/2011/07/video-interrogatorio-jesus-enrique.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709024954/http://www.mundonarco.com/2011/07/video-interrogatorio-jesus-enrique.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 July 2011|newspaper=Mundo Narco|date=5 July 2011}}</ref> and [[Heriberto Lazcano]],<ref>{{cite news| title=Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano "El Verdugo"| url=http://www.blogdelnarco.info/heriberto-lazcano-lazcano-el-verdugo/| newspaper=Blog del Narco| date=3 March 2010| url-status=dead| archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806204043/http://www.blogdelnarco.info/heriberto-lazcano-lazcano-el-verdugo/| archivedatearchive-date=6 August 2011}}</ref> who was killed in 2012 while he was the supreme leader of Los Zetas. The creation of Los Zetas ushered in a new era of drug trafficking in Mexico.<ref>{{cite news| last=Ware| first=Michael| title=Los Zetas called Mexico's most dangerous drug cartel| url=http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-06/world/mexico.drug.cartels_1_los-zetas-drug-cartels-drug-war?_s=PM:WORLD| newspaper=CNN World| date=6 August 2009| url-status=dead| archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015231342/http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-06/world/mexico.drug.cartels_1_los-zetas-drug-cartels-drug-war?_s=PM:WORLD| archivedatearchive-date=15 October 2011}}</ref> Between 2001 and 2008, the organization of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas was collectively known as La Compañía (The Companycompany).<ref>{{cite news|last=Sherman|first=Chris|title=Texas jury convicts alleged Mexican cartel hit man|url=http://www.themonitor.com/articles/hit-58252-jury-mcallen.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912194439/http://www.themonitor.com/articles/hit-58252-jury-mcallen.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 September 2012|accessdateaccess-date=26 January 2012|newspaper=The Monitor|date=25 January 2012}}</ref>

One of the first missions of Los Zetas was to eradicate Los Chachos, a group of drug traffickers under the orders of the [[Milenio Cartel]], who disputed the drug corridors of Tamaulipas with the Gulf Cartel in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|title=Surge nuevo 'narcoperfil|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=100976&tabla=nacion|accessdateaccess-date=9 December 2011|newspaper=El Universal|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111155629/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=100976&tabla=nacion|archivedatearchive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref> This gang was controlled by Dionisio Román García Sánchez alias ''El Chacho'', who had decided to betray the Gulf Cartel and switch his alliance to the [[Tijuana Cartel]]; however, he was eventually killed by Los Zetas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Organized crime and terrorist activity in Mexico, 1999-2002|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/OrgCrime_Mexico.pdf|publisher=Library of Congress|accessdateaccess-date=9 December 2011}}</ref> Once Cárdenas Guillén consolidated his position and supremacy, he expanded the responsibilities of Los Zetas, and as years passed, they became much more important to the Gulf Cartel. They began to organize kidnappings,<ref>{{cite news|last=Schiller|first=Dane|title=Narco gangster reveals the underworld|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/topstory/7607122.html#loopbegin|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]}}</ref> impose taxes, collect debts, operate protection racket,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Mexican Drug War and the Thirty Years’Years' War|url=http://bellum.stanfordreview.org/?p=3015|publisher=Bellum: [[The Stanford Review]]|accessdateaccess-date=8 February 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305074956/http://bellum.stanfordreview.org/?p=3015|archivedatearchive-date=5 March 2011}}</ref> control the extortion business,<ref>{{cite news|title=Army troops capture a Zetas cartel boss in northern Mexico|url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/02/15/army-troops-capture-zetas-cartel-boss-northern-mexico/|newspaper=Fox News Latino|date=15 February 2011}}</ref> secure cocaine supply and trafficking routes known as ''plazas'' (zones) and execute its foes, often with grotesque savagery.<ref name="Grayson"/> In response to the rising power of the Gulf Cartel, the rival [[Sinaloa Cartel]]<ref>{{cite news|title=¿Qué es el Cartel de Sinaloa?|url=http://www.perfil.com/contenidos/2008/08/24/noticia_0023.html|newspaper=Perfil.com|date=2008-08-24|access-date=16 December 2011|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233207/http://www.perfil.com/contenidos/2008/08/24/noticia_0023.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> established a heavily armed, well-trained enforcer group known as [[Los Negros]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Sánchez|first=Alex|title=Mexico’sMexico's Drug War: Soldiers versus Narco-Soldiers|url=http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f85a9ff12311fcc1895e0801f6df8d2f|newspaper=New American Media {{!}} La Prensa San Diego|date=4 June 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320042633/http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f85a9ff12311fcc1895e0801f6df8d2f|archivedatearchive-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> The group operated similarly to Los Zetas, but with less complexity and success. 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fantz|first=Ashley|title=Saldo por el combate al narcotráfico: muerte por un negocio millonario|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2012/01/22/saldo-por-el-combate-al-narcotrafico-muerte-por-un-negocio-millonario|accessdateaccess-date=24 January 2012|newspaper=CNN Mexico|date=22 January 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123202055/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2012/01/22/saldo-por-el-combate-al-narcotrafico-muerte-por-un-negocio-millonario|archivedatearchive-date=23 January 2012}}</ref>

The death of [[Arturo Guzmán Decena]] (2002),<ref>{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Kevin|title=Betrayal on the Mexican Border|url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/drugs/zeta.htm|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=21 June 2004}}</ref> and the capture of Rogelio González Pizaña (2004),<ref>{{cite web|last=Sánchez|first=Jesús Olguín|title=Cae líder de los "Zetas"|url=http://fox.presidencia.gob.mx/buenasnoticias/index.php?contenido=15690|publisher=México: Presidencia de la República|accessdateaccess-date=3 November 2004}}</ref> the second-in-line, marked the opportunity for [[Heriberto Lazcano]] to take charge of Los Zetas. Upon the arrest of the Gulf Cartel boss Cárdenas Guillén in 2003, and his extradition in 2007, the actions of Los Zetas changed—they began to become synonymous with the Gulf Cartel, and their influence grew within the organization.<ref>{{cite web|title=Drug Trafficking Organizations|url=httphttps://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs32/32781/dtos.htm|publisher=[[National Drug Intelligence Center]]|accessdateaccess-date=9 December 2011}}</ref> Los Zetas began to grow independently from the Gulf Cartel, and eventually a rupture occurred between them in early 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Weekend shootouts in northeastern Mexico kill at least 9|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-12/world/mexico.deaths_1_zetas-gulf-cartel-familia-michoacana?_s=PM:WORLD|accessdateaccess-date=9 December 2011|newspaper=CNN News|date=17 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315102415/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-12/world/mexico.deaths_1_zetas-gulf-cartel-familia-michoacana?_s=PM:WORLD|archivedatearchive-date=15 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=El origen de 'Los Zetas': brazo armado del cártel del Golfo|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/07/05/el-origen-de-los-zetas-brazo-armado-del-cartel-del-golfo|newspaper=CNN México|date=5 July 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128174447/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/07/05/el-origen-de-los-zetas-brazo-armado-del-cartel-del-golfo|archivedatearchive-date=28 January 2013}}</ref>

On 9 November 1999, two U.S. agents from the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) were threatened at gunpoint by Cárdenas Guillén and approximately fifteen of his henchmen in Matamoros. The two agents traveled to Matamoros with an informant to gather intelligence on the operations of the Gulf Cartel.<ref name=deastandoff>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/mexico/article/Dangers-higher-for-federal-agents-1033781.php|title=Dangers higher for federal agents|last=Buch|first=Json|date=28 February 2011|work=[[San Antonio Express-News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110405/https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/mexico/article/Dangers-higher-for-federal-agents-1033781.php|archive-date=27 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="deahouston">{{Cite news|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/DEA-agent-breaks-silence-on-standoff-with-cartel-1713234.php|title=DEA agent breaks silence on standoff with cartel|last=Schiller|first=Dane|date=15 March 2010|work=[[The Houston Chronicle]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127193446/https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/DEA-agent-breaks-silence-on-standoff-with-cartel-1713234.php|archive-date=27 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Cárdenas Guillén demanded that the agents and the informant to get out of their vehicle, but they refused to obey his orders. The incident escalated as heCárdenas threatened to kill them if they did not comply and his gunmen prepared to shoot them. The agents tried to reason with himCárdenas that killing U.S. federal agents would bringresult in a massive manhunt by the U.S. government. Cárdenas Guillén eventually let themthe men go and threatened to kill them if they ever returned to his home turfterritory.<ref name=deastandoff/>

The standoff triggered a massive law enforcement effort to crack down on the leadership structure of the Gulf Cartel. Both the Mexican and U.S. governments increased their efforts to apprehend Cárdenas Guillén. Prior to the standoff, he was regarded as a minor player in the [[Illegal drug trade|international drug trade]], but this incident grew his reputation and made him one of the most-wanted criminals.<ref name="graysondea">{{Cite news|url=https://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/valley/grayson-zapata-slaying-will-have-repercussions/article_9ea1164e-6747-5656-8dc9-10d46ea919bc.html|title=Grayson: Zapata slaying will have repercussions|last=|first=|date=17 February 2011|work=[[The Brownsville Herald]]}}{{Dead link|access-date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The FBI and the DEA filed numerous charges against him and issued a US$2 million bounty for his arrest.<ref name="2milreward">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr121400.htm|title=$2 Million Reward Offered Leading To The Arrest or Conviction of Drug Traffickers|date=14 December 2000|publisher=[[Drug Enforcement Administration]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203212334/https://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr121400.htm|archive-date=3 February 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 1 June 2001, the [[U.S. Department of the Treasury]] sanctioned Cárdenas Guillén under the [[Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act|Kingpin Act]], for his involvement in drug trafficking along with eleven other international criminals.<ref>{{cite web|title=DESIGNATIONS PURSUANT TO THE FOREIGN NARCOTICS KINGPIN DESIGNATION ACT|url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/narco_designations_kingpin.pdf|publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury]]|accessdateaccess-date=28 May 2014|page=1|date=15 May 2014|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514025153/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/narco_designations_kingpin.pdf|archivedatearchive-date=14 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The act prohibited U.S. citizens and companies from conducting any kind of business activity with him, and virtually froze all his assets in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|title=An overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act|url=http://www.assetsearchblog.com/uploads/file/drugs.pdf|publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury]]|accessdateaccess-date=28 May 2014|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528053616/http://www.assetsearchblog.com/uploads/file/drugs.pdf|archivedatearchive-date=28 May 2014|page=1|date=2009}}</ref>

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was captured in the city of [[Matamoros, Tamaulipas|Matamoros]], on 14 March 2003 in a shootout between the Mexican military and Gulf Cartel gunmen.<ref name='arrest'>{{cite news | title='Drug boss' captured in Mexico | date=15 March 2003 | publisherwork=[[BBC News]] | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2852197.stm | work = | pages = | accessdateaccess-date = 2010-02-25 }}</ref> He was one of the [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]]; they were offering $2 million for his capture.<ref>{{cite web|title=Osiel Cardenas-Guillen|url=https://www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2010/ho022410b.htm|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation|accessdateaccess-date=24 February 2010}}</ref> According to government archives, this six-month military operation was planned and carried out in secret; the only people informed were President [[Vicente Fox]], Mexico's Secretary of Defense [[Gerardo Clemente Vega]], and Mexico's Attorney General, [[Rafael Macedo de la Concha]]. It is believed that he was located based on information provided by Alejandro Lucio Morales Betancourt (Z-2), Osiel Cardenas personal pilot and former Special Forces Intelligence officer who acted as Guzmán Decenas second in command who possibly turned against Osiel Cardenas after his capture in 2001.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cae Osiel Cárdenas: Se enfrentó a tiros con el Ejército|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=94595&tabla=Nacion_H|newspaper=El Universal|date=15 March 2003|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328092143/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=94595&tabla=Nacion_H|archivedatearchive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> After his capture, Osiel Cárdenas was sent to the federal, high-security prison [[Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1|La Palma]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Nuevo auto de formal prisión a Osiel Cárdenas|url=http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/466430.html|website=Esmas.com|date=August 2005|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004042205/http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/466430.html|archivedatearchive-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> However, it was believed that Cárdenas still controlled the Gulf Cartel from prison.<ref>{{cite news|last=Aponte|first=David|title=Líderes narcos pactan en La Palma trasriego de droga|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=119863&tabla=nacion|newspaper=El Universal|date=5 January 2005|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328092221/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=119863&tabla=nacion|archivedatearchive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> He was extradited in 2007 to the United States, where he was sentenced to 25 years in a prison in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]] for money laundering, drug trafficking, homicide and death threats to U.S. federal agents.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sentencian a Osiel Cárdenas Guillén a 25 años de prisión en Texas|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/02/24/sentencian-a-osiel-cardenas-guillen-a-25-anos-de-prision-en-texas|newspaper=CNN México|date=24 February 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904020823/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/02/24/sentencian-a-osiel-cardenas-guillen-a-25-anos-de-prision-en-texas|archivedatearchive-date=4 September 2011}}</ref> Reports from the [[Attorney General of Mexico|PGR]] and ''[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]]'' state that while in prison, Osiel Cárdenas and [[Benjamín Arellano Félix]], from the [[Tijuana Cartel]], formed an alliance. Moreover, through handwritten notes, Osiel Cárdenas gave orders on the movement of drugs in Mexico and into the United States, approved executions, and signed forms to allow the purchase of police forces.<ref name="BehindBars">{{cite news|title=Maneja Osiel mafia desde la carcel, prueban|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=120380&tabla=nacion|accessdateaccess-date=5 December 2011|newspaper=El Universal|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419021522/http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=120380&tabla=nacion|archivedatearchive-date=19 April 2012}}</ref> And while his brother [[Antonio Cárdenas Guillén]] led the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cárdenas still gave vital orders while in La Palma sending messages through his lawyers and guards.<ref name="BehindBars"/>

[[Category:Mexican mobcrime bosses]]