“They live off of extortion, kidnapping and protection money,” a source said of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel, which is reportedly linked to the recent kidnapping of four Americans — and deaths of two…
— it was, apparently, ultra-violence business as usual for the area where the Gulf Cartel and its rival Zetas often engage in bloody battle.
“They are still involved in drug trafficking,” Robert Almonte, retired deputy chief of the El Paso Police department and former United States Marshall, told The Post. “But they are more involved in kidnapping and extortion, and they use deadly force when people don’t pay.” And violence is second nature for the cartel’s members, who learned their techniques from professionals: rogue members of the Mexican military.— a former mechanic who rose up the food chain by taking out a powerful Gulf rival — was running the illegal activity in Matamoros, Mexico’s special forces were sent in to take down the cartel.“Cárdenas Guillén admired the highly trained military personnel; so he recruited them [in 1997],” said Almonte.
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who ran the Gulf Cartel in the 1990s, is now expected to be released from a US prison in 2024.Around 2019, according to Almonte, the Gulf allied with Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which also does business in Matamoros. For now, though, according to Almonte, “The lifestyle for Cárdenas-Martinez was lavish. He had a nice house, women, expensive jewelry. The cartel leaders expect that they will not lead long lives. So they enjoy it while they can. Then they get buried in mausoleums that cost $1 million.”
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