Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, leader of the Gulf Cartel and one of the founders of the Los Zetas cartel, left the maximum security penitentiary center in Terre Haute in Indiana, where he remained for 17 years to serve his sentence.
Known as the ‘The Friend Killer‘ Originally from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison; however, due to his good behavior he was released four years ago.
Osiel Cárdena, 57 years old, has reportedly been charged with several crimes related to organized crime and drug trafficking in Mexico and the United States, but what are the crimes for which he was imprisoned?
‘The Godfather’, as he is also known, was arrested in 2003 and charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion of US federal agents.
When was Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, former leader of the Gulf Cartel, arrested?
Criminal records show that the drug trafficker was arrested on March 14, 2003, and extradited to the United States on January 17, 2007. Therefore, his freedom would have been 21 years after his capture by elements of the Mexican army. It was not until 2010 that he was sentenced to 25 years in prison..
Osiel Cárdenas reportedly reached an agreement that allowed him to avoid life imprisonment and a maximum security prison sentence in exchange for information about the structure of Mexican cartels.
The US government has classified him as one of the most bloodthirsty criminals in history. It accused him of more than two thousand murders and charged him with 17 different crimes, and offered a reward of Two million dollars for his capture.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the registration number indicated that his release date was scheduled for August 30, 2024, so as of this Friday, the status changed to Unknown.
* With information from David Saúl Vela
