Mexican prosecutors said he was arrested on murder and organized crime charges dating back to his time as one of Mexico’s most powerful drug lords.
Cardenas Guillen made his criminal career in the Gulf drug cartel in the 1990s, reportedly not shying away from killing his allies to rise to the top, earning him the nickname “Mata Amigas” (Spanish for “killer of friends”).
But what he became infamous for was recruiting members of Mexico’s elite special forces and using them as hitmen and enforcers for the Gulf cartel.
The law enforcement officers turned hitmen became known as Los Zetas.
The brutal methods they used, such as beheading and dismembering their victims, quickly spread terror throughout northeastern Mexico, which was their stronghold.
By the early 2000s, Cardenas Guillen was one of the most wanted men in Mexico.
Mexican security forces managed to detain him in his home state of Tamaulipas in 2003 after a bloody shootout.
Aware of the power the gang leader wielded in the area, security forces quickly took him to the capital, Mexico City, where he was taken into custody.
In 2007, he was extradited to the United States.
There, he was accused not only of trafficking tons of cocaine into the United States, but also of threatening to attack and kill federal agents.
In 2010, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After serving a significant portion of his sentence, he was released in August 2024 from a federal prison in Terre Haute, Idaho, and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
That cleared the way for his deportation to Mexico on Monday.
Mexican prosecutors said seven federal cases are still open against Cardenas Guillen and that he could be sentenced to more than 700 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
