Gilberto García Mena

Gilberto García Mena (born 1954), also known as El June, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He began his criminal career as a small-time marijuana smuggler in his teens, and later joined the Gulf Cartel under kingpin Juan García Ábrego. García Mena was arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas while possessing marijuana in 1984, but was released without a conviction. He returned to Mexico, and established a center of operations in Nuevo León. García Mena was arrested on drug-trafficking charges in 1989, but authorities were again unable to convict him. Released in 1990, he rejoined the Gulf Cartel.

Throughout his criminal career, García Mena cultivated a social image of a feared kingpin and a benefactor. He donated money to his community, and corrupt officials in the local police and the military facilitated his drug operations. García Mena consolidated his criminal empire by building a profitable marijuana-trafficking business with his brother and nephews, and successfully defended his turf from rival criminal groups. He befriended Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who became the undisputed Gulf Cartel kingpin, during the late 1990s. García Mena had disagreements with other Tamaulipas-based traffickers, however, who eventually plotted his downfall.

On 6 April 2001, he was arrested by the Mexican Army after a week-long manhunt. García Mena's arrest triggered infighting within the Gulf Cartel, and prompted more offensives from the Mexican government. He was convicted of several charges, including drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms. García Mena was released in 2014, after a court determined that his arrest violated due process. A fugitive from U.S. justice, he has a pending extradition request.

Background and career García Mena was born in 1954 in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, Mexico,