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Federal authorities in the United States deported the man who was the supreme leader of the Gulf Cartel and founder of Los Zetas. The former kingpin has completed his sentence in the United States. He is now being held in a Mexican prison where he is expected to face trial on several drug trafficking, murder, weapons, and organized crime charges in Mexico.

On Monday afternoon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents deported Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the notorious former leader of the Gulf Cartel. The removal operation took place at the San Diego Port of Entry, where U.S. agents walked Cardenas toward Mexican authorities. Mexican police took him into custody on their side of the border.

Federal agents walk Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cardenas into Mexico for his deportation. (Credit; U.S. ICE-ERO)

Through a prepared statement, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office revealed that Cardenas had been flown to the Altiplano prison, where he is expected to face various charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.

As Breitbart Texas reported, Cardenas became a highly feared figure throughout Mexico following his rise to power in the late 1990s when he killed his way to the helm of the Gulf Cartel. Soon after, he consolidated his power by recruiting former soldiers and police officers as his personal guard and hit squad. That group grew in power and became known as Los Zetas.

The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Cardenas on drug trafficking charges in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2003 that Mexican military forces arrested him in Matamoros following a fierce shootout.

In 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice extradited Cardenas to stand trial for numerous drug trafficking and money laundering charges out of the U.S. Southern District of Texas. Three years later, Cardenas pleaded guilty to some charges as part of a secret deal where he received a 25-year sentence. He completed most of the sentence before his deportation.

According to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, on August 5, they took custody of Cardenas due to his impending removal from the country after completing his sentence and because Mexico had requested his extradition for charges in that country. The removal of Cardenas from a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, caused widespread speculation in Mexico, with some news outlets on both sides of the border publishing erroneous stories about Cardenas’s release from prison and his supposed eventual return to power in Mexico. Between August and December, Cardenas had been in the custody of ICE-ERO, awaiting his removal to Mexico.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.