{"id":1399472,"date":"2022-03-24T23:14:56","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T03:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1399472"},"modified":"2022-03-24T23:14:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T03:14:57","slug":"u-s-unseals-indictment-against-head-of-gulf-cartel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-unseals-indictment-against-head-of-gulf-cartel\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Unseals Indictment Against Head of Gulf Cartel"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fu-s-unseals-indictment-against-head-of-gulf-cartel%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1399472&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Federal authorities unsealed an indictment filed against the head of the Gulf Cartel. The feared drug lord is currently in a Mexican jail fighting extradition to Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Known by his nickname \u201cEl Contador or the Accountant,\u201d Jose Alfredo Cardenas is the long-time head of the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel. In a prepared statement, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office revealed that Cardenas had been at the helm of the organization since 2015. A federal grand jury in Brownsville indicted Cardenas on November 10, 2021, however, the information was filed under seal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_10205289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2019\/03\/El-Contador-Gulf-Cartel.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Alfredo \u201cEl Contador\u201d Cardenas Martinez (file photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/border\/2022\/02\/27\/elusive-gulf-cartel-boss-arrested-in-mexico-near-texas-border\/\">Breitbart Texas was the first news outlet to report on the February capture of El Contador in Matamoros<\/a> by Mexican military forces. The capture was the third arrest for Cardenas who managed to beat prior arrests under suspicious rulings from Mexican judges.<\/p>\n<p>El Contador is in a Mexican prison where he is fighting extradition to the U.S. In Mexico, he also faces state charges in Tamaulipas for kidnapping and organized criminal activities.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>According to U.S. prosecutors, Cardenas faces conspiracy charges related to smuggling large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. As head of the Gulf Cartel in Matamoros, Cardenas oversaw and coordinated the shipment of drugs through the border cities controlled by his organization, prosecutors claimed.<\/p>\n<p>El Contador inherited control from Eduardo \u201cEl Cos\u201d Costilla Sanchez, who was arrested in Mexico and subsequently extradited to the U.S., where he awaits sentencing. Cardenas is the nephew of supreme Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who also founded Los Zetas as his personal bodyguard group. Osiel Cardenas is currently in a U.S. prison on a 25-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The case against El Contador is based on a joint investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe arrest of Jose Alfredo Cardenas-Martinez serves a tough blow to the Gulf Cartel Organization,\u201d said Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux. \u201cIt is the culmination of a successful international drug investigation which should disrupt the Gulf Cartel\u2019s ability to smuggle drugs into Texas and other communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If convicted, El Contador faces a possible life term in prison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough the joint investigation from our office in Harlingen, in coordination with our Attach\u00e9 in Mexico and other partners, we were able to gather significant evidence that was instrumental in the case against \u201cEl Contador,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). \u201cHSI and our law enforcement partners will continue to coordinate to dismantle any suspected transnational criminal organizations that threaten public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas\u2019 Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby\u00a0and senior Breitbart management.\u00a0You can follow him on\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IldefonsoOrtiz\"><em>Twitter<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0and on\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Ildefonso-Ortiz\/731511040246659\"><em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><em>. He can be contacted at\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"mailto:Iortiz@breitbart.com\"><em>Iortiz@breitbart.com<\/em><\/a><em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas\u2019 Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brandondarby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\"><em>Twitter\u00a0<\/em><\/a><em>and\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/brandonmichaeldarby\"><em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><em>. He can be contacted at\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"mailto:bdarby@breitbart.com\"><em>bdarby@breitbart.com<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal authorities unsealed an indictment filed against the head of the Gulf Cartel. The feared drug lord is currently in a Mexican jail fighting extradition to Texas. Known by his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1399472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1399472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1399472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1399472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1399472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}