The former head of the notorious Zetas Mexican drug cartel, Osiel Cardenas, was released from a US prison on Friday into the custody of immigration officials.
Mexican drug lord who founded ultra-violent Zetas is released from US prison https://t.co/ZYx9H5eTW4 pic.twitter.com/1i36iEATvJ
— New York Post (@nypost) August 31, 2024
Cardenas, who was responsible for some of the most violent gang tactics in Mexico’s history is credited with transforming the North American drug trafficking industry into a multinational business of death and intimidation. His Zetas crime group established the application of extortion, terror, kidnapping, and murder in the illegal drug world.
Following a massive gun battle between Mexican military and cartel forces in 2003, Cardenas was captured, extradited, and sentenced to 25 years in prison in the US.
It remains unknown if Cardenas will be deported back to Mexico or remain in the United States. A US Immigration and Customs spokesperson said that the former cartel leader was transferred into ICE custody in Terre Haute, Indiana, and will remain in custody “pending a final disposition determination.”
NBC reported that the Biden administration expects to hand Cardenas over to Mexico next week.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons has confirmed the transfer of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén to U.S. Immigration authorities. Originally sentenced to 25 years for his leadership in the Gulf Cartel, Cárdenas's release date was set for August 30, 2024, after reductions for time served… pic.twitter.com/N2OONRBiAY
— Top Rank Capital (@toprankcapital) August 30, 2024
Having never served his full sentence in Mexico, Cardenas still has outstanding charges in Mexico and is currently in a general population holding status inside a migration detention center in the US.
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