Félix Gallardo taken to hospital with breathing problems
By Cartel Insider Wire Desk · Edited by Mica Treviño
Original reporting: ZETA Tijuana
What happened
ZETA reports an emergency transfer from Puente Grande after low oxygen levels and respiratory complications, with state and prison police providing security.
Reporting and context
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo was taken under guard from Puente Grande prison to a private hospital in metropolitan Guadalajara after developing low oxygen levels and respiratory complications, according to ZETA Tijuana. The Guadalajara Cartel founder remained in custody during the emergency transfer.
The operation took place at 1:45 p.m., with an ambulance escorted by Jalisco state police and prison police and supported by state aerial surveillance. The hospital is at Circunvalación Jorge Álvarez del Castillo Avenue and Mar Blanco Street in Lomas del Country. ZETA Tijuana reported that Félix Gallardo is ordinarily treated at Guadalajara’s Civil Hospital, but this emergency required admission to the private facility.
The outlet said he is serving two federal prison sentences: 40 years for drug offenses and 37 years for the kidnapping and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar. The report gives March 29, 2029, as the scheduled end of the first sentence and start of the second.
His defense obtained a court order in September 2022 allowing home confinement in place of imprisonment. Subsequent rulings and prosecution appeals prevented its implementation, the outlet reported, keeping him at Puente Grande. He has been detained since his arrest by Federal Judicial Police on April 8, 1989.
Original reporting: ZETA Tijuana.