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Juan Garcia Abrego (born September 13, 1944) is a former leader of the Gulf Cartel.
Foundation / operations
Abrego's criminal beginning are associated with his uncle, Juan N. Guerra, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border. United States intelligence reports state Guerra reared his nephew on car theft before passing down his criminal enterprise. The exact date of succession is unknown, however law enforcement officials recall an incident on January 27, 1987 when Tomas Morlet, former officer in an elite Mexican police force turned national trafficker, exchanged harsh words with Abrego and was later found, shot twice in the back in the doorway of Guerra's Piedras Negras Restaurant.
Reports date Abrego's trafficking career beginning in the mid 1970's exporting marijuana from Mexico to Texas, Louisiana and Florida. In the early 1980's he began incorporating cocaine into the cartels trafficking operations.Abrego is widely known for innovating Mexican trafficking operations, turning them from not only smugglers, into suppliers. By renegotiating his deal with the Cali Cartel, Abrego was able to secure 50% of a shipment out of Colombia as payment for delivery, instead of the 1,500 per kilo they were previously receiving. The renegotiating however brought a price, the cartel would have to guarantee any shipment from Colombia to its destination. This change forced Abrego to begin stockpiling 100's of tons of cocaine along the northern Mexico border in warehouses, however it allowed him to setup his own distribution network and expand his political influence. By the end of the 1980's and into the early 1990's it was estimated Abrego was smuggling over 300 metric tons per year across the US-Mexico border.
Once the cocaine cross the border into the United States it was believed to reach distribution networks across the country in cities such as San Antonio, Houston and New York City, with smaller elements in Dallas, Chicago, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, California and Arizona.
In addition to transporting cocaine for the Cali Cartel, it was believed the Abrego's cartel would also ship large quantities of cash to be laundered. The United States Department of Justice would confiscate over 53 million between 1989 to 1993 that was being laundered through two corrupt American Express employee's as proof of such large scale operations. In 1994 the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed Abrego was making as much as 10 billion per year in profit. The following years Fortune Magazine estimated the Abrego empire to be worth 15 billion.
Corruption
Juan Garcia Abrego's web of corruption was believed to stretch to all aspects of the Ernesto Zedillo government. Upon Abrego's arrest a book detailing the scale of bribery was located. From examining the contents it became known that the head of Federal Judicial Police (FJP) was receiving 1 million dollars, force operations chief was receiving 500,000 and the federal police commander of the Gulf Cartels base of operations, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, was receiving 100k. The book detailed the payments less as bribes and more as what Abrego would consider to be a tax on business. In an article published in the Mexican daily "El Financero" it was alleged Abrego had infiltrated 95% of the Attorney Generals Office.
Abrego's ties however extended beyond the Mexican government and into the United States. With the arrest of one of Abrego's traffickers, Juan Antonio Ortiz, it became know the cartel would ship tons of cocaine in United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) buses between the years of 1986 to 1990. The buses made great transportation, as Antonio Ortiz noted, since they were never stopped at the border. In addition to the INS bus scam, Abrego had a "special deal" with members of the Texas National Guard who would truck tons of cocaine and marijuana from South Texas to Houston for the cartel.
Abrego's reach became known when he attempted to bribe a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent named Claude de la O, in 1986, in an attempt to gather information on U.S. law enforcement operations. Claude de la O has stated in testimony against Abrego that he received over $100,000 in bribes and had leaked information that could have endangered an FBI informant as well as Mexican journalists. In 1989 Claude was removed from the case for unknown reasons, retiring a year later.
Abrego's arrest was even subject to allegations of corruption. It is believed the Mexican government knew all along the where abouts of Abrego and had refused to arrest him due to information he possessed about the extent of corruption within the government. The arresting officer, a FJP commander, is believed to have received a bullet-proof Mercury Grand Marquis and 500,000 from a rival cartel for enacting the arrest of Abrego.
Further theories put forward allege the arrest of Abrego was to satisfy U.S. demands and meet certification, from the Department of Justice (DOJ), as a trade partner, the vote set to take place on March 1st. Abrego was apprehended on January 14, 1996 and Mexico shortly after received certification on March 1st.
Enforcement
On May 16, 1984, it is believed Abrego ordered a hit on rival trafficker Casimiro Espinosa, the murder attempt failed, leaving Casimiro injured. The following day gunmen shot their way into Raya Clinic, a private hospital, looking for Casimiro. In the 10 minute shoot out that followed, 300 rounds had been fired and multiple people were left dead, including a security guard, a husband and child, and a bed ridden woman. Casimiro survived the attack, however he died the following day due to injuries sustained in the shoot out.
Two years after the 1984 clinic shoot out, Ernesto Flores, an editor for the Mexican daily newspaper El Popular, was executed. It is believed Abrego did it after being aggravated with their coverage of the cartels deeds. Flores car was sprayed with gunfire as gunmen waited at the entrance of the newspaper. Norma Morena, a reporter for the newspaper was also killed in the attack.
Arrest
Juan Garcia Abrego had grown to such lengths that he was placed on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Top Ten Most Wanted List in 1995. He has the distinction of being the first drug trafficker to ever be placed on that list. He was arrested on a ranch outside of Monterrey Nuevo León, on January 14, 1996. He was quickly extradited to the United States, where he stood trial eight months after his arrest. Abrego was convicted on 22 counts including money laundering, drug trafficking, intent to distribute and running and ongoing criminal enterprise. Abrego was found guilty by a jury after 12 hours of deliberation and a four week trial, he was later sentenced to eleven life terms in a maximum security federal prison in Colorado. In addition to the prison sentencing Abrego was forced to turn over millions in illegal proceeds, the United States Government requested 1.05 billion, however the jury after an hour of deliberation only agreed to the 350 million. Abrego's lawyer, Mr. Canales, stated it was a "a symbolic grab at nothing" since Abrego did not reside in the United States nor have any assets in the country.
Prior to Abrego's arrest he had been discussing terms in which he would surrender to authorities. Those terms included medical treatment for his jailed brothers diabetes, one last trip to Colombia before his surrender, conjugal visits from his mistress, to be jailed in Guadalajara with some of his lieutenants, for his own protection and to allow himself to be taken in by the police commander of his choice. Mexican government officials however denied the requests.
Gulf Cartel post-Abrego
Following the arrest of Abrego it is believed Osiel Cárdenas Guillen took over the cartel. Osiel is known for founding the para-military group Los Zetas as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. Osiel himself is a former police officer and between 1999 and 2003 was believed to be shipping 4 to 6 tons of cocaine per month into the United States. The Gulf Cartels Los Zetas is currently engaged in a drug war with the Sinaloa Cartel's Los Negros, also a para-military unit, for control over the Nuevo Laredo smuggling corridor.
See also
References
- ^ Dillon, Sam (February 9, 1996). "Matamoros Journal;Canaries Sing in Mexico, but Uncle Juan Will Not". New York Times.
- ^ Cockburn, Alexander (1998). Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. Verso Publishers. p. 361. ISBN 1859841392.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Lupsha, Peter. "Transnational Narco-Corruption and Narco-Investment: A Focus on Mexico". PBS Frontline. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ "Mexican Drug Fugitive Named To FBI'S "Most Wanted" List". Department of Justice. March 9, 1995. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- "International Drug Trafficking Organizations in Mexico". Drug Enforcement Administration. August 8, 1995. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- Gray, Mike (2000). Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out. Routledge. p. 230. ISBN 0415926475.
- ^ Farer, Tom J. (1999). Transnational Crime in the Americas: An Inter-American Dialogue Book. Routledge. p. 204. ISBN 041592300X.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Weinberg, Bill (2000). Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico. Verso Publishers. p. 371. ISBN 1859843727.
- "At Drug Trial, Mexican Suspect Faces Accuser". New York Times. September 20, 1996. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ Dillon, Sam (February 4, 1996). "Mexican Drug Gang's Reign of Blood". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- Bailey, John J (2001). Organized Crime and Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 48. ISBN 0822957582.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Harrison, Lawrence E. (1997). The Pan-American Dream: Do Latin America's Cultural Values Discourage True Partnership with the United States and Canada?. Westview Press. pp. 227, 228. ISBN 0813334705.
- "U.S. Jury Convicts Mexican on Drug Charges". New York Times. October 17, 1996.
- Dillon, Sam (January 20, 1996). "Accused Mexican Narcotics Trafficker Is Said to Offer to Answer All Questions". New York Times.
- Golden, Tim (August 23, 1995). "A Drug Figure Is Said to Offer To Surrender To Mexicans". New York Times.
- "Transcript of Conference Call with Senior Administration Officials on the Extradition of Major Mexican Criminal Defendants". United States Department of Justice. January 22, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- Bunker, Robert (2005). Networks, Terrorism and Global Insurgency. Routledge. pp. xv. ISBN 0-41534819-6.
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