Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra | |
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Nepomuceno Guerra pictured on far left
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Born | Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
July 18, 1915
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
Cause of death | Respiratory disease[1] |
Other names | Don Juan; El Padrino; El Padrino de Matamoros[2] |
Occupation | Gulf Cartel leader and founder |
Successor | Juan García Abrego (his nephew) |
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Cárdenas (July 18, 1915 – July 12, 2001) was a Mexican crime lord, businessman, and smuggler who founded the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He is often considered the "godfather" of U.S-Mexico border cartels.[1]
He began his criminal career in the 1930s by smuggling alcohol from Mexico during the Prohibition in the United States. He later diversified to other cross-border smuggling activities. He is the uncle of Juan García Ábrego, once's Mexico's most-wanted man.
Early life and career
During the 1930s he began smuggling whisky across the Mexico-United States border through south Texas. Through shrewd political connections he had fostered, Nepomucena Guerra was able to control all the contraband moving across the Rio Grande. [1] In the 1970s, his nephew Juan García Abrego began utilizing those connections and developed the organization into a drug cartel primarily dedicated to the more lucrative business of smuggling cocaine.[3]
According to news sources, despite allegedly founding one of the largest drug cartels in Mexico, Juan Nepomuceno Guerra never spent more than "a few hours in jail" for his crimes.[4]
Legacy
On June 18, 2015, the Governor of Tamaulipas Egidio Torre Cantú inaugurated a street under his name, "Juan N. Guerra", in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.The street was inaugurated along with seven others and is located in the working-class neighborhood Reserva Territorial Campestre.[5]
See also
References
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