Gulf Cartel
Cártel del Golfo | |
Logo of the Gulf Cartel | |
| Founded | 1930s |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, Juan García Ábrego |
| Founding location | Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Years active | 1930s–present |
| Territory | Mexico: Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Jalisco USA: Texas, Louisiana, Georgia |
| Ethnicity | Majority Mexican and Mexican-American, minority Guatemalan |
| Membership | 50,000–100,000 |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, people smuggling, robbery, murder, arms trafficking, bribery, fencing, counterfeiting |
| Allies | Medellín Cartel (defunct) Cali Cartel (defunct) Los Mexicles Camorra 'Ndrangheta Serbian mafia Jalisco New Generation Cartel |
| Rivals | United States government Los Zetas Juárez Cartel Guadalajara Cartel (defunct) Sinaloa Cartel La Familia Michoacana Beltrán-Leyva Cartel Tijuana Cartel Los Negros (disbanded) Cártel del Noreste |
The Gulf Cartel (Spanish: Cártel del Golfo [ˈkaɾtel ðel ˈɣolfo], or Golfos) is a criminal syndicate, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, directly across the U.S. border from Brownsville, Texas.
Their network is international, and is believed to have dealings with crime groups in Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, and the United States. Besides drug trafficking, the Gulf Cartel operates through protection rackets, assassinations, extortions, kidnappings, and other criminal activities. The members of the Gulf Cartel are known for intimidating the population and for being particularly violent.
Although its founder Juan Nepomuceno Guerra smuggled alcohol in large quantities to the United States during the Prohibition era, and heroin for over 40 years, it was not until the 1980s that the cartel was shifted to trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana under the command of Juan Nepomuceno Guerra and Juan García Ábrego.