Mexican drug trafficker Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, former leader of the Gulf Cartel and founder of the criminal gang The Zetasleft a prison USA the Federal Bureau of Prisons told AFP on Friday.
Cárdenas Guillén was released 21 years after his arrest and 17 years after being extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion of U.S. federal agents.
“We confirm that Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was released today”a source from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) told AFP.
“He was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)”he added.
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He was released from Terre Haute Correctional Facility in Indiana on Friday, where he was serving his sentence. He has several pending charges in Mexico, but it is not known whether the U.S. government will deport him.
He Gulf Cartel It once was one of the most feared criminal groups in Mexico. However, in recent years it has lost influence and has split into multiple factions.
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As leader, Cárdenas Guillén, 57, oversaw a drug trafficking empire responsible for importing thousands of kilos of cocaine and marijuana into the United States from Mexico, according to judicial sources.
Nicknamed “El Mata Amigos”, he was arrested in 2003 in Tamaulipas (northeastern Mexico) and extradited in 2007 to the United States, where he was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in prison and a fine of 50 million dollars.
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The judge dismissed some drug charges, though she admitted she had hesitated to accept his plea deal.
“I apologize to my country, Mexico, to the United States, to my wife and, especially, to my children for all the mistakes I have made.”Cárdenas Guillén declared at the trial.
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The boss used violence and intimidation as a means to further his goals.
He recruited former Mexican special forces soldiers to form his personal guard, but this protection force ended up operating on its own under the name The Zetasone of the bloodiest gangs in Mexico until its dismantling.
