Gayardo, Health Deterioration Including Blindness While Serving Sentence Since 1989 Arrest
Prosecutors Object... House Arrest Start Date Undecided
Felix Gallardo, who organized the Guadalajara Cartel, the largest gang in Mexico in 1980, was a former police officer from Sinaloa. Photo by AP Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Miguel ?ngel F?lix Gallardo (76), the founder of the Guadalajara drug cartel in Mexico and known as the 'Drug King,' has been granted house arrest after serving 33 years in prison.
On the 13th (local time), according to local media Infobae, Mexican judicial authorities allowed F?lix Gallardo, who was arrested in 1989 and imprisoned on charges of brutally torturing and killing DEA agent Enrique Camarena, to be placed under house arrest.
The court also ordered the attachment of an electronic tracking device and the deployment of 24-hour surveillance personnel around his residence.
F?lix Gallardo, who organized the Guadalajara cartel, Mexico's largest gang in the 1980s, was a former police officer from Sinaloa Province.
Together with Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (Don Neto), Rafael Caro Quintero, and others, he succeeded in uniting the various cartels scattered across Mexico, earning the nickname 'Boss of Bosses.' Later, he partnered with Colombian drug cartels to completely control the drug trafficking routes to the United States.
Gallardo's downfall began in 1985. A member of the Mexican drug cartel, Quintero, enraged by Mexican authorities' marijuana crackdowns, brutally murdered a DEA agent. This incident made Gallardo and the drug cartel targets of both the U.S. and Mexican governments.
He continued to live as a fugitive until his arrest in 1989, after which he was sentenced to 40 years and imprisoned at Altiplano and Puente Grande prisons.
Gallardo was later sentenced to an additional 37 years for arms trafficking and illegal stockpiling. If he serves the full term, he would be 120 years old.
However, a few years ago, F?lix Gallardo lost sight in one eye and hearing in one ear while in prison and underwent hernia surgery. Recently, his health has deteriorated, requiring oxygen tank-dependent treatment.
Consequently, the court decided to grant him house arrest.
However, it is uncertain whether Gallardo's house arrest will commence immediately. The prosecution is reportedly planning to file an appeal against the court's decision.
Carrillo, who was also sentenced to 40 years on similar charges, was released on house arrest in 2016 after serving 31 years. He is currently serving the remaining term (3 years as of this year) at home.
Quintero was also sentenced to 40 years and was released after 28 years in 2013 due to a court suspension of sentence enforcement. After the release decision was reversed and he became subject to imprisonment again, he disappeared. Quintero, who was on the run to avoid a $20 million U.S. bounty, was captured in July last year after nine years of evasion.
Meanwhile, the formation of F?lix Gallardo's Guadalajara cartel and the killing of the DEA agent were depicted in the Netflix series 'Narcos: Mexico.'
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
