Osiel Cardenas Guillen, born May 18 1967 in Matamoros Tamaulipas, is the symbolic leader of the Gulf Cartel (Cartel del Golfo). Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Chava Gomez (the capo at the time) and he later took control by killing Gomez, earning Cardenas the nickname "el Mata Amigos" (The Friend-Killer).
In 1999, in Matamoros, Mexico, he allegedly threatened to kill two U.S. federal agents (one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and another from the Drug Enforcement Administration) who were transporting a Gulf Cartel informant through Matamoros. Cardenas and more than a dozen of his men surrounded the Agents' car near downtown Matamoros. After a tense standoff, the agents were able to talk their way out of being killed by reminding Cardenas that the U.S. would hunt him for the rest of his life. After the incident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation would offer a $2 million award for Cardenas. arrest.
Cardenas was captured by the Mexican Army in a battle between Gulf Cartel soldiers and the Mexican Army on March 14, 2003 in Matamoros, Mexico. Though subsequently incarcerated at La Palma, México's top security prison, it was widely believed that he continued to have control over Gulf Cartel business from within prison walls.
On January 20, 2007, he was extradited to the United States to stand trial for Conspiracy to Import multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine into the United States, as well as the 1999 incident involving the two US Federal Agents.
Jailed or not, on May 1, 2008, Cardenas threw a Day of the Child party for 2,000 people in Ciudad Acuña on the Gulf Coast, replete with banners, clowns, food and music.
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Wed May 28, 2008 6:41 pm