Guadalajara Cartel founder Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo has been released from the Puente Grande prison to be admitted to a hospital in Mexico's city of Guadalajara.

According to Borderland Beat, Felix Gallardo was recently taken to the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara to try to save his sight.

General Director of Prevention and Social Reintegration in Jalisco, Juan Antonio Perez Juarez, noted that the Guadalajara Cartel founder has a complicated health condition and receives treatment for loss of sight.

Perez Juarez said Felix Gallardo has already lost sight in one eye, and his one ear had a problem hearing. He noted that the Guadalajara Cartel founder had already taken some tests to see if his one eye and one ear could still be saved.

Felix Gallardo has filed judicial appeals to receive treatments for various ailments such as deafness, loss of vision in one eye, and cataracts in another, Riodoce reported.

As his health deteriorated, the former Mexican drug kingpin filed different lawsuits, including the request for house arrest. But a court in Mexico City denied his request to complete the remainder of his sentence at his home in February 2019.

The court said he would remain at the Puente Grande medium-security prison in Jalisco state until his 37-year sentence ends. The court noted that Felix Gallardo's defense did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that his health issues were putting his life at risk.

A judge has also rejected his request to reduce his sentence. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo is currently serving two prison sentences that add up to almost his 76-year-old age. 

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Guadalajara Cartel Founder Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo Says He Did Not Murder DEA Agent 'Kiki' Camarena

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo was arrested in April 1989. He was initially sentenced to 40 years of prison.

After serving 28 years, a 2017 retrial sentenced him to an additional 37 years for the death of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar and other charges such as stockpiling weapons, bribery, murder, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

In August last year, Felix Gallardo had openly talked about his connection to the death of Camarena. In an interview with Telemundo, he denied knowing Camarena, saying he does not know why officials relate him to the death of the DEA agent and why he's in prison.

The Guadalajara Cartel founder noted that he was very sorry because he believed Camarena was a good man. He also said that he's not a gun person.

Felix Gallardo also delivered a message to Camarena's widow, saying he wished her comfort and hoped she feel relieved that the culprits were serving time.

The former Mexican drug kingpin also denied any relationship or connection with the alleged Guadalajara Cartel co-founders, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero.

Felix Gallardo said he does not know the two men as he has never met them or talked to them. The alleged three Guadalajara Cartel co-founders were convicted for their participation in Camarena's kidnapping, torture, and murder. 

Fonseca Carrillo had already obtained house arrest in 2017, while Caro Quintero was recently captured in the mountains of northwest Mexico.

Felix Gallardo noted that he had never met Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, who founded the Medellin cartel. He also denied the existence of the Guadalajara Cartel. He said drug cartels have never existed in Guadalajara. 

"I don't know if that's changed now. That never happened. In other words, we led a family life. I took my children to school," Felix Gallardo said.

When the former Mexican drug kingpin was asked if he regrets anything, he answered by saying he has not made a mistake, so there's "nothing to regret."

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo also said he does not have hopes of getting out of prison. He noted that he had lost all hope of being released and believed he would die in prison.

Guadalajara Cartel Founder Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo Is 'The Godfather' of Narco Crime

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo has once worked with Rafael Caro Quintero, who has been named to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Felix Gallardo also oversaw lieutenants like young Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, who later became the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Guadalajara Cartel founder was also known to work with Amado Carrillo Fuentes for the fleet of airplanes used to move drugs for his Juarez cartel.

The rise of the Guadalajara Cartel started during the emergence of marijuana and cocaine in the U.S. in the 1960s and '70s. Felix Gallardo's drug cartel reportedly gained power due to their connections to the powerful Colombian drug cartels and the lack of internal rivalries and competitions in Mexico at the time.

Camarena started gathering evidence to prosecute the Guadalajara Cartel members in the early 1980s. He helped Mexican authorities destroy large marijuana fields before Guadalajara Cartel operatives allegedly killed him.

The Guadalajara Cartel started to split in the late 1980s, partly due to the 1985 murder of Camarena. The Sinaloa Cartel and Tijuana Cartel assumed control of what remained of the Guadalajara Cartel.

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Written by: Mary Webber

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