Cárdenas Guillén, 57 years old, was transferred from the Terre Haute penitentiary, in Indiana, to the Mesa Otay Detention Center, in San Diego. Subsequently, US officers escorted the drug trafficker to a Tijuana checkpoint, where he was handed over to Mexican authorities without incident.
In the afternoon, the drug trafficker was admitted to the maximum security prison of El Altiplano, in Almoloya, State of Mexico.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Deportation and Removal Operations in Chicago, with assistance from ERO San Diego, Harlingen, Texas, Mexico City, and ERO Removals’ International Operations Division, today deported Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, 57, a known member of the Zeta cartel, to Mexico, where he is wanted for homicide and illegal possession of a firearm,” confirmed the Service of Control of Immigration and Customs (ICE).
“The successful removal of Osiel Cárdenas, a known international fugitive, underscores our unwavering commitment to public safety and justice. By returning this dangerous individual to Mexico, where he faces serious charges, we have taken an important step to safeguard our communities and defend the rule of law,” said Samuel Olson, ERO Chicago Field Office Director.
The Gulf Cartel (CDG), headed by Cárdenas Guillén, is today territorially reduced and fragmented between criminal cells that operate mainly in Tamaulipas and Veracruz.
Last August, Cárdenas Guillén, who controlled the Gulf Cartel during the 1990s and early 2000s, was released from a US prison after serving a sentence. However, he remained in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) while it was decided whether he would remain in that country as a protected witness, or be deported to Mexico due to arrest warrants for drug trafficking and organized crime.
A capture history
Cárdenas Guilén was detained on August 27, 1992 in the United States, after crossing through Brownsville, Texas, using a border crossing card that allowed him to temporarily remain 25 miles from the border between the United States and Mexico. He was then arrested for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and was transferred to the Cameron County Jail in Brownsville, Texas.
On January 13, 1993, the Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Brownsville, sentenced the capo to 63 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute an amount greater than 500 grams.
According to information from ICE, at the end of that year, on December 23, 1993, he was transferred to Mexico under the Treaty between the United States and Mexico on the Execution of Criminal Sentences.
On March 14, 2000, the United States Attorney’s Office in Houston filed an indictment against Cárdenas for 13 counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, 6 counts of assault on a federal official, one count of laundering monetary instruments , one count of conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana into the United States from Mexico, and one count of continuing a criminal enterprise.
The Office of International Affairs of the United States Department of Justice collaborated with the Government of Mexico to achieve his extradition. On January 19, 2007, Mexico extradited Cárdenas to the United States to stand trial in the Southern District of Texas.
