Gulf Cartel

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The Gulf Cartel (Cártel del Golfo) is a Mexican drug trafficking organization (MDTO) based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Heavy operations also include the cities of Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo. Its chief rival is the Sinaloa Cartel. The Gulf Cartel traffics cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamime and heroin across the border to major cities in the United States. The group is known for its violent methods and intimidation, and works closely with corrupt law officials and business people in Mexico. The sphere of influence for the cartel has been determined to be from the Gulf Coast state of Tamaulipas to Piedras Negras, Coahuila.

Aside from earning money from the sales of narcotics, the Cartel also collects taxes aka piso, cuota from street level dealers, prominent businesses, even illegal alien smugglers. Anyone passing narcotics or aliens through a plaza belonging to the Gulf Cartel is subject to payment of these 'taxes' to the cartel, regardless of whether the contraband is subsequently apprehended by US law enforcement or not. Payment of these taxes assure that the Cartel will not strike violently at those who fail to pay them. The Gulf cartel does not limit itself solely to narcotics trafficking, as they have been known to kidnap local businessmen to collect money.

Contents 1 History 2 Alignment with the Zetas 3 Alignment with Arellano Félix Organization 4 Structure 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

The Gulf Cartel was founded by Juan Nepomuceno Guerra and its origins date back to the 1970s. Juan Nepomuceno Guerra was a notorious Mexican bootlegger who smuggled whiskey into the United States in the 1930s along the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1970s, he became politically active and began smuggling more contraband into the United States. His nephew, Juan García Abrego, was born in a ranch called "La Puerta", Matamoros, Tamaulipas. He began slowly taking over day to day operations of what was now being called the Gulf Cartel. Abrego expanded the business to include the more lucrative cocaine trade throughout the 1980s and 1990s, all with the assistance of the political connections that his uncle had fostered. Juan García Abrego became so powerful that he was placed on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List in 1995. He had the distinction of being the first drug trafficker to ever be placed on that list.

García Abrego was captured in 1996 and immediately extradited to the United States. According to Janet Reno, the US Attorney General, Mexican and US officials agreed on the fact that he was an American citizen, born in La Paloma, Texas. After his arrest, he was extradited to the United States, where he is currently serving eleven life terms in a maximum security federal prison in Colorado. Juan Nepomucena Guerra died in 2001 a free man, never admitting to any connection to the drug trade or The Gulf Cartel.

Juan García Abrego's arrest left a void in The Gulf Cartel. Several Gulf Cartel captains jockeyed for position. The first to step to the front was Salvador "El Chava" Gómez. His ascent to the top was short lived when a rival captain, Osiel Cárdenas, assassinated him in a shootout in 1999. After the coup, Cárdenas became the undisputed leader of the Gulf Cartel.

In 1999, Cardenas learned that a Gulf Cartel informant was being transported through Matamoros, Tamaulipas, by the FBI and DEA. Cardenas and his men surrounded the vehicle on a public street and demanded the informant be released to him. The FBI and DEA agents refused to turn over their informant and after a tense standoff were released. As for Cárdenas, the damage had been done by taking on the U.S. government. The United States placed enormous pressure on the Mexican government to apprehend Cárdenas. Cárdenas was arrested during a furious gun battle at Matamoros in March 2003, in front of Televisa television cameras, perhaps to show the United States that Mexico was making an effort.

Cárdenas was sent to the La Palma federal high security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, Estado de México. It was widely known that Cárdenas still ran the Gulf Cartel from his prison cell in La Palma.

[edit] Alignment with the Zetas

Sensing a void in the Gulf Cartel after Osiel Cárdenas' arrest, the Sinaloa Cartel, headed by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, began to move into Gulf Cartel territory. This prompted Cárdenas to employ a group of former Mexican military men known as los Zetas to keep Guzmán from entering Gulf Cartel territory. Both MDTOs have been battling each other in the city of Nuevo Laredo since then, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people including civilians, police and journalists. The killings were so numerous that President Vicente Fox was forced to deploy the Army to Nuevo Laredo because of public pressure.

Several of the Zetas, former members of an elite anti-drug commando force appear to have been employed by the Cartel. Officials fear that Zeta military expertise may have allowed the group to increase the efficiency and violence of its operation.

[edit] Alignment with Arellano Félix Organization

In 2003, the Gulf Cartel joined in an alliance with the remnants of the Arellano Félix Organization (AFO), a MDTO based out of the state of Baja California.^[1] This was based primarily on prison negotiations between top leaders such as Benjamín Arellano Félix and Osiel Cárdenas. After a personal dispute between leaders, however, Osiel Cárdenas ordered Benjamín Arellano Félix beaten, and all alliances ceased at that point. It is reported that after the fallout, Cárdenas ordered the Zetas to Baja California to wipe out the AFO.^[2]

[edit] Structure

On January 20, 2007 Osiel Cárdenas was extradited to the United States by the Mexican Government by outgoing President Vicente Fox. Newly elected president Felipe Calderón has also come down on the Drug Cartel's hold on Mexico by recently arresting several major drug kingpins. The Gulf Cartel's leadership has since evolved into one with a decentralized structure, with three major lieutenants sharing control of the Cartel^[3]. These three factions are each headed by:

1. Los Zetas: Headed by Heriberto Lazcano aka El Lazca, aka Zeta 3, . The Zetas provide the muscle for the Gulf Cartel

2. Ezequiel Cárdenas, aka "Tony Tormenta", brother of Osiel Cardenas. Responsible for Matamoros and Brownsville plazas

3. Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez aka "El Coss". Top Lieutenant of Osiel Cárdenas. Maintains close contacts with Colombian narcotics suppliers.

The decentralized structure of the cartel differentiates it from other Cartels, in that power is shared equally among a set of gatekeepers (plaza heads, each of whom is responsible for running different trafficking routes ^[4]Each gatekeeper is also responsible for security and the collection of taxes for each plaza they are responsible for.

Much has been written recently, especially in Mexican media, about a rift between Jorge Eduardo Costilla and Heriberto Lazcano. This rift has led to much speculation that the Gulf Cartel is in a death spiral.

[edit] External links

• PBS Frontline Profile

[edit] References