The former leader of the Gulf Cartel, Mario Cardenas Guillen, also known as "El Gordo" or "El M-1," was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. to stand trial in a Texas court, Mexican officials said Tuesday.

According to Mexico's Attorney General's Office (FGR), Mexican authorities handed over the Gulf Cartel leader to U.S. agents at the Mexico City International Airport.

Borderland Beat reported that El Gordo would have to face his drug trafficking charges in a Texas court. As a cartel leader, El Gordo is reportedly responsible for the large-scale importation of cocaine into Houston, Texas.

The FGR was responsible for making Cardenas Guillen available to U.S. authorities, Infobae reported. In a statement, the FGR said El Gordo will face charges of criminal association and crimes against people's health for sending narcotics from Mexico.

According to reports, Cardenas Guillen previously controlled the Gulf Cartel with Eduardo Costilla, also known as "El Cos," who was arrested in 2012 and extradited to the U.S. in 2015.

El Gordo has reportedly run the cartel since his brother, former leader Antonio Cardenas Guillen or "Tony Tormenta," was killed in a gunfight with the Mexican government in 2010.

Cardenas Guillen is also the brother of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, a co-leader of the Gulf Cartel who was arrested in 2003 and extradited to the U.S. in 2007.

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The Arrest of Gulf Cartel Boss 'El Gordo' in Mexico

According to reports, Mario Cardenas Guillen was initially arrested and convicted on organized crime charges in 1995.

He was imprisoned in Matamoros city, across the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas, where he was caught organizing large shipments of cocaine and marijuana from behind bars.

El Gordo was then reassigned to a prison in Jalisco state and was released in 2007 after he finished his sentence. He reportedly rejoined the Gulf Cartel after his release.

Because of this, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has maintained him on its fugitive list for violations of federal law on conspiracy charges.

Cardenas Guillen was arrested a second time in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas in 2012. An official said he was caught with weapons, ammunition, and four small envelopes containing cocaine.

El Gordo, who was incarcerated at the Altiplano maximum-security federal prison in Mexico State, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April last year.

Leaders of Mexican Drug Cartels Complain of Harassment and Psychological Torture in Mexico Prison

El Gordo was among the leaders of Mexican drug cartels who earlier filed a joint complaint about their conditions at the Altiplano maximum-security federal prison in Mexico State.

Servando Gómez Martínez, the former leader of the Knights Templar Cartel in Michoacan; Fernando Sánchez Arellano, the former leader of the Tijuana Cartel in Baja California; and Cardenas Guillen demanded protection because they were allegedly being harassed and psychologically tortured by the prison staff.

The September 2021 complaint was also signed by Javier Adrián Salazar Ortiz, a former head of the Los Zetas Cartel, and Hugo Guerrero Encinas, a former member of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The judge who accepted the lawsuit junked the request of the Attorney General's Office to dismiss the case. The judge made it clear that in due course, the court "will issue the resolution that corresponds in law."

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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