Félix Gallardo hospitalized after oxygen levels fall
By Cartel Insider Wire Desk · Edited by Mica Treviño
Original reporting: El Financiero
What happened
Prison medical authorities reported an urgent ambulance transfer to Country 2000 hospital after low oxygen levels caused disorientation. El Financiero cited court records listing 22 conditions and 13 medications.
Reporting and context
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo was taken from the Puente Grande prison complex to a private hospital in Guadalajara after low oxygen levels caused an altered state of consciousness and disorientation, according to El Financiero, citing prison medical authorities.
The 80-year-old co-founder of the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel was transferred urgently by ambulance to the emergency department at Country 2000 hospital. Prison authorities reported the transfer on Friday, November 13. Police response personnel and an aerotactical unit provided security and custody during the operation.
El Financiero reported that Félix Gallardo usually receives outside medical care at Guadalajara’s public Hospital Civil, also known as the Hospital de Belén. This time, a respiratory problem prompted treatment at the private facility.
The newspaper cited court records describing 22 medical conditions and treatment with 13 different medications. His conditions include deafness, atrophy of the right eye, anxiety and hypertension. Those records indicate that he requires care unavailable inside the prison.
Félix Gallardo has spent more than three decades in custody. The report says he is serving a 40-year sentence for cocaine exports, weapons stockpiling and bribery, and a separate 37-year sentence for the murders of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala. A planned move to house arrest four years earlier was halted at the last moment, the newspaper reported.
Source: El Financiero.