And so the Mexican DTOs of the Tijuana and Sinaloa Cartels were spawned. Two of the Gallardo's top lieutenants, Hector Luis Palma Salazar and Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera, established an organization in the drug capital of the state of Sinaloa. His nephews (seven Arellano-Felix brothers) established an organization on the border area in Tijuana. At that point, his sweeping organization was divided up by his former lieutenants. He continued to run his huge drug trafficking organization (DTO) until he was moved to a Mexican maximum security prison in 1990.
Miguel "El Padrino" Felix, Mexico's Guadalajara Cartel founder, was arrested in 1989. Several Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, (including myself) were technical advisors and played bit parts. The story of the manhunt to capture or kill the cartel bosses who orchestrated the murder of Agent Camarena was depicted in a television mini-series produced by Michael Mann that's based on Elaine Shannon's book, "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story." It stars Steven Bauer (as Kiki), Craig Nelson and Treat Williams. The war on drugs had become a national security concern. In 1988, Congress declared the first Red Ribbon Week chaired by Nancy Reagan. began wearing red ribbons to remember Kiki and remind children not to use drugs. American tourists were warned not to travel to Mexico PTA members in the U.S. The brutal murder of Camarena and Zavala shocked the civilized world. They were tortured, beaten to death and buried in shallow graves about 70 miles south of the city. Camarena, born in the California border town of Calexico, and his pilot Alfredo Zavala were both kidnapped in broad daylight in Guadalajara.
7, 1985, the Guadalajara Cartel took its revenge. This raid was part of the DEA's "Operation Godfather" which was headed by Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Drug Enforcement Agency, raided Numero Uno Caro Quintero's property in Chihuahua and destroyed 10,000 tons of marihuana. With his $30 million a month income, El Padrino Felix invested in tourist investments in Hermosillo and Puerto Vallarta.īut in November of 1984, the cartel took a $2 billion dollar loss when Mexican Federal Police, in cooperation with the U.S. El Padrino (Godfather) had also been the body guard for the governor of Sinaloa and with the governors assistance he gained favor with the Sinaloan drug lord Pedro Aviles, who controlled territory stretching from Sinaloa to Chihuahua and the Texas border.īy the mid 1980s, the Guadalajara Cartel was smuggling two tons of cocaine a month into the U.S., according to DEA estimates. And the "godfather" was the corrupt former Mexican judicial federal police agent, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo. If drug trafficking spawned the cartels, corruption was the mid-wife. If not physically, at least spiritually, it became the drug cartel capital.
Many of Mexico's most infamous drug lords learned their trade there. Mexico's Chicago was the city of Culican in the state of Sinaloa. cities such as New York and Chicago, Mexican smugglers or "contrabandistas" evolved from crude thuggish beginnings to more criminally sophisticated organized crime groups. Like the evolution of the Italian Mafia in U.S. The lure of gringo gold and greenbacks drew these men to traffic in contraband alcohol, guns and drugs. Long before Pancho Villa rode the "frontera" (border area), bands of bandits and smugglers flourished there.