MEXICO CITY — Infamous drug kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén has been repatriated to Mexico after completing a significant portion of his sentence in the United States. Upon his return, he was promptly re-arrested and transferred to a maximum-security facility to confront charges awaiting him in his home country.
Concerns had been mounting regarding Cárdenas Guillén’s arrival back in Mexico, as he previously led the notorious Gulf cartel, which operated prominently in northeastern Mexico before his capture and extradition to the U.S. in 2007.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security utilized social media to announce that Cárdenas Guillén had been returned after spending 14 years incarcerated in the United States, out of a 25-year sentence. Being a Mexican national, it is likely that he was deported back to Mexico.
A federal official from Mexico, who requested not to be identified, disclosed that Cárdenas Guillén was taken into custody immediately upon his return, facing charges related to drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering. According to the same official, he is currently being held in Altiplano prison, the country’s most secure maximum-security facility located just west of Mexico City.
Citing the repatriation, Homeland Security Investigations shared images depicting a noticeably heavier, balding Cárdenas Guillén, who wore glasses and was flanked by officers clad in helmets and protective vests, as he crossed a border bridge back into Mexico. These images starkly contrast with his previous reputation as a violent drug lord.
The former leader of the Gulf cartel, who has built a fearsome name for himself, was notorious for his extreme brutality. He was the architect behind the formation of the Zetas, one of the most brutal gangs in Mexico’s history, responsible for heinous acts including the slaughter of innocent civilians and migrants. Cárdenas Guillén, 57, originally hails from the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, where he once moved vast quantities of cocaine and amassed substantial wealth through his cartel’s operations centered in Reynosa and Matamoros.
