Mexican drug lord Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, known as the “boss of bosses”, has died at the age of 80. He died in a hospital in Guadalajara, Jalisco, after being transferred from prison for emergency treatment two days earlier.
According to AFP, a statement from the security ministry of Jalisco state said he was kept under observation with a “guarded prognosis”. The ministry said he died on November 15 “after” he “suffered multiple organ failure”.
As per the WSJ, a Mexican official said he died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia at a private hospital in Guadalajara. He was moved from a high-security prison on Friday.
Felix Gallardo had been in state custody since his arrest in 1989.
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Who was Felix Gallardo?
According to AFP, Felix Gallardo was one of the founders of the Guadalajara cartel, from which the Sinaloa cartel later came. He was a key player in building ties with Colombian drug traffickers.
{{/usCountry}}According to AFP, Felix Gallardo was one of the founders of the Guadalajara cartel, from which the Sinaloa cartel later came. He was a key player in building ties with Colombian drug traffickers.
{{/usCountry}}He was a former Mexican police officer who rose from humble origins to become one of Latin America’s most powerful drug traffickers. Known as El Padrino, or the Godfather, he built an empire that changed Mexico’s ties with organized crime and government corruption, according to the WSJ. His fame grew after Mexican actor Diego Luna played him in the Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico”.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Felix Gallardo was born on January 8, 1946, in Sinaloa state. He joined the police despite having only a second-grade education. In the late 1970s, as the US increased its efforts to fight drug trafficking, he moved to Guadalajara and began building a network of political contacts and a large drug trafficking organization.
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How he changed the cocaine trade
According to the WSJ, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, who led the powerful Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar initially used routes through the Caribbean to ship cocaine. However, US authorities began seizing his boats and ships, forcing him to look for other routes. He then turned to Mexico, where Felix Gallardo saw an opportunity.
Felix Gallardo used his contacts in the government to protect land routes that carried cocaine from South America through Mexico to the US border. Other traffickers paid him for safe passage. Instead of taking cash, he collected a share of each shipment, helping him build a huge drug empire.
He also brought several of Mexico’s separate drug groups under one network. These included groups led by Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and the Arellano Felix brothers. Each group paid him for the right to operate in its territory.
DEA agent's murder and arrest
According to AFP, Felix Gallardo was convicted for the 1985 murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar, an undercover DEA agent. The killing angered the United States.
As per WSJ, members of Felix Gallardo’s group kidnapped and killed Camarena while he was investigating the cartel. His murder led to a major manhunt by the DEA. Under pressure from the US, Mexican authorities arrested Rafael Caro Quintero and Felix Gallardo. The arrest marked the collapse of the original Guadalajara Cartel. Felix Gallardo spent the rest of his life in Mexican prisons.