Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, former leader of the Gulf Cartel, is released from a US prison

• Osiel Cárdenas Guillén is Released
• Remains Under ICE Custody
• His Son Faces Similar Sentences

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, former leader of the Gulf Cartel, was released this Friday from a prison in Indiana, USA.

After nearly 17 years in prison, the Mexican drug lord was placed under the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Cárdenas Guillén, 57, faced several charges in Mexico before being extradited to the United States in 2007.

He was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in prison in Texas, where he served 75% of his sentence.

The Deal that Saved Osiel Cárdenas Guillén from a Life Sentence

The drug lord pleaded guilty to five drug trafficking-related charges as part of a deal with the prosecution.

This agreement allowed him to avoid a life sentence by having 12 additional charges dropped.

Under his leadership, the Gulf Cartel operated in cities such as Houston, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Nicknamed ‘The Engineer’, Cárdenas Guillén was arrested in Mexico in 2003.

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén’s son, Osiel Cárdenas Junior, also faces sentences for drug-related offenses.

Cárdenas Junior, born in Texas, was sentenced last year to more than nine years in prison.

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He pleaded guilty to attempting to buy assault rifles for export to Mexico while on probation.

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