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Juan Garcia Abrego (born September 13, 1944) is an American former leader of the Gulf Cartel.

Abrego was born in a ranch called "La Puerta", Matamoros, Tamaulipas. He began slowly taking over day to day operations of what was now being called the Gulf Cartel. Abrego expanded the business to include the more lucrative cocaine trade throughout the 1980s and 1990s, all with the assistance of the political connections that his uncle had fostered.

Debate on place of birth

There is a debate over Garcia Abrego's citizenship. There is a birth certificate showing he was born in La Paloma, Texas, as well as one from Matamoros, Mexico. According to Janet Reno, the U.S.A. Attorney General, Mexican and U.S.A. officials agreed to say he was an American citizen, born in La Paloma, Texas. As a result of the embarrassment caused by Abrego and his connections that some say led directly to the President of Mexico. President Zedillo justified his decision in a private meeting with some congressmen and decided it would not be in its interest to keep Abrego in Mexico, perhaps because of his alleged ties to high level government officials. They invoked Article 33 of the Constitution, which allows the executive branch to deport any foreigner whose presence in Mexico the President deems problematic, without judicial proceedings.

Juan Garcia Abrego became so powerful that he was placed on the FBI's 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 Leon, on January 14, 1996. He was extradited to the United States, as he was now made a U.S. citizen. The FBI tried pressing Garcia Abrego for some answers, perhaps in return for reduced charges or a light sentence. He is currently serving eleven life terms in a maximum security federal prison in Colorado. His uncle, Juan Nepomucena Guerra, died in 2001 a free man, never admitting to any connection to the drug trade or The Gulf Cartel.

Iticardo Aleman, a columnist at La Jornada, reported that Abrego's arrest was pre-arranged. Garcia Abrego had expressed his willingness to turn himself in with the proviso that he be sent to the U.S. and his family be left alone. One thing seems certain. Juan Garcia Abrego is a wealth of information concerning drug trafficking, political pay-offs and possibly even circumstances surrounding the assassinations of Colosio and Ruiz Massieu.

Juan Garcia Abrego's arrest left a void in The Gulf Cartel. Several Gulf Cartel captains jockeyed for position. The first to step to the front was Salvador "El Chava" Gomez. His ascent to the top was short-lived when a rival captain assassinated him in a shootout in 1999. It was widely believed that Osiel Cárdenas was responsible. Cardenas became the undisputed leader of the Gulf Cartel.