Osiel Cardenas, one of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords, was released from a U.S. prison on Friday into the custody of immigration officials, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said.
A former leader of the Gulf Cartel, Cardenas presided over some of the bloodiest gang violence in the country’s turbulent recent past and is credited with transforming drug trafficking through the adoption of hyper-violent tactics such as decapitations.
Cárdenas founded the Zetas, an armed wing of the Gulf Cartel made up of former members of the Army’s special forces.
He was captured after a shootout in 2003 and extradited to the United States in 2007, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010.
The Zetas later split off and became, for a time, Mexico’s deadliest criminal group before dying out.
A U.S. prison spokesman told Reuters that Cardenas was released “into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)” early on Friday.
It is unclear whether he will be deported to Mexico or remain on U.S. soil.
Cárdenas, who has pending charges in the Latin American country, is currently in an immigration detention center in the United States, a Mexican government source said.
Leo Silva, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who worked in Mexico fighting the Zetas, said Cardenas was directly responsible for the uptick in gruesome violence on Mexican soil over the past two decades.
The Zetas pioneered organized crime groups’ efforts to move from mere drug trafficking to extortion of citizens and businesses in areas they controlled. They also spread terror through widespread kidnapping for ransom.
“This was something that Osiel created that created a new era of organized crime,” said Silva, who worked for the DEA in Mexico from 2008 to 2015. “He unleashed this mentality of creating fear in the country.”
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channelsYouTube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Add Comment