Will Osiel Cardenas Be Deported?

After 21 years behind bars, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén will be released next Friday from an Indiana prison in the United States. He has several charges pending for organized crime and drug trafficking in Mexico. But the US government has yet to determine whether to deport or hand him over to Mexico so that he pays for those pending crimes in our country.

When Cárdenas Guillén was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the agreement was set. He pleaded guilty in exchange for having some drug trafficking charges dismissed. Although on February 24, 2010 in the Brownsville, Texas, Federal Court almost half a year after his agreement, the judge in front of his case hesitated for a few moments.

Cárdenas arrived at his sentencing hearing repentant, he asked for forgiveness from Mexico, the United States, his wife, his children, and even his victims. But Judge Ilda G. Tagle wasn’t so convinced and told Cárdenas that she had hesitated to accept his plea agreement. She also gave a brief summary of the Mexican’s criminal activities, the violence he generated, and how he became a role model for other drug traffickers.

However, she ended up imposing the sentence recommended by the prosecution, which assures that Cárdenas Guillen would attain freedom and his power would be over. Milenio news obtained the collaboration agreement that the former leader of the Gulf Cartel signed on July 30, 2009. A memorandum lists the crimes and evidence against him, such as the shipment of 271 kilos of cocaine hidden in a load of jalapeño peppers in a tractor in Falfurrias, Texas. 

In addition, the statements of an FBI agent and another from a DEA agent were also included. They were assaulted and threatened by Cardenas Guillen himself in 1999 in Matamoros Tamaulipas when they were heading to meet with a source close to the cartel. Months earlier in May 1999 a Sheriff from Cameron County Texas managed to infiltrate as an undercover agent to transport almost a ton of marijuana to Houston. He claims Cardenas Guillén threatened him for not delivering the drugs before paying for the transfer.

The US Federal Bureau of Prisons will release the capo from an Indiana prison next Friday after spending 21 years behind bars. He has several accusations pending in Mexico for organized crime and drug trafficking. However, the American government will determine whether to deport the famous criminal or allow his stay in that country under supervised conditions. 

Source: Milenio