Rafael Cárdenas Vela

Rafael Cárdenas Vela (a.k.a. El Junior) is a former Mexican drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel. He is the nephew of Antonio and Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, two men who at one time led the criminal organization.

Born and raised in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Cárdenas Vela began his criminal career in the year 2000, where he served as the regional boss of the Gulf Cartel in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. During his time in power, he reportedly bribed and threatened local leaders and policemen in order allow the Gulf Cartel to introduce and move narcotics around the municipality freely. Nine years later, Cárdenas Vela was promoted by his superiors to the Río Bravo, Tamaulipas corridor, directly south across the U.S-Mexico border. In Río Bravo, he reportedly supervised cocaine and marijuana shipments heading to the United States and oversaw human smuggling rings.

The death of his uncle Antonio in November 2010 created an internal division in the Gulf Cartel, but Cárdenas Vela managed to become the regional boss of the cartel in Matamoros in March 2011. Amid the turmoil, Cárdenas Vela began to have problems with the drug lord Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez and his henchmen. Fearing for his own life, Cárdenas Vela fled to the state of Texas and managed the operatives of the cartel behind the scenes. But his career came to an end on 20 October 2011 when federal agents arrested him in Port Isabel, Texas.

In the Gulf Cartel, Cárdenas Vela made more than $5 million and ensured that that money "went into the pockets of Mexican law enforcement officers as bribes," and had about "500 armed men at his beck and call."

Criminal career

Rise to power Beginning in the year 2000, Cárdenas Vela spent several years as the drug boss of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, a city just 30 miles south of Matamoros and with an important drug corridor. When it was time to move cocaine shipments, Cárdenas Vela notified the police and warned them not to get out of their headquarters until he called them back. Introducing cocaine through San Fernando, however, was a difficult task for the Gulf Cartel; due to the military checkpoint in the municipality, the cartel had to find its way in moving narcotics. If they could not get it through the checkpoints or surround the base by using dirt roads, aircraft would be used to bring cocaine in 500 kilograms per load. Once on U.S. soil, Cárdenas Vela communicated with his subordinates through daily emails, and continued to control the drug transportation and distribution cells that trafficked cocaine and marijuana across the Mexico–United States border.

Arrest On 20 October 2011, while heading to his luxury house in South Padre Island, Texas with his bodyguards and an "attractive lady," Cárdenas Vela was pulled over in Port Isabel, Texas by the police at around 6:39 p.m. on Texas State Highway 100, Nonetheless, The Brownsville Herald stated that the police chief of Port Isabel claimed that Cárdenas Vela was pulled over due to a "routine traffic stop" because he "was speeding." When he was stopped, Cárdenas Vela presented a Mexican passport and a visa name with a false name. Once confronted with his true identity, he admitted to have traveled with another man's passport, and that for years he had trafficked cocaine and marijuana to the United States. The Mexican passport he was carrying (which was under the name of a supposed Pedro García González), along with his visa, were authentic documents. Moreover, he admitted to have crossed illegally into the United States from Mexico before being caught by the authorities.

Upon his arrest in Port Isabel, his cellphones and ledgers were confiscated by the authorities. A phone toll analysis proved his connectivity with several active and ongoing drug investigations and a ledger was also analyzed that indicated the personnel structure of the armed and unarmed individuals in the Gulf Cartel, as well as the purchase of firearms, protective equipment, automobiles and gasoline for these vehicles. No firearms, drugs, or high bulks of cash were found in his vehicle when he was taken into custody. Initial reports after his arrest stated that Cárdenas Vela had three houses in the Texan cities of Rio Hondo, Port Isabel, and Brownsville—all within 30 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. He confessed to have dozens of vehicles, a condominium in South Padre Island, and a collections of exotic animals in his house in Rio Hondo. But none of these properties he owned in the Rio Grande Valley were under his name.

Cárdenas Vela's arrest triggered a series of road blocks and gunfights in Valle Hermoso and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the city in which he operated.

Context of arrest

Stratfor and the San Antonio Express-News released a report on 3 November 2011 putting more context on the arrest of Cárdenas Vela in South Texas. They mentioned that the drug lord must have been living tough times in his position because his uncle Osiel Cárdenas Guillén is believed to have cooperated with the U.S. authorities as a protected witness. Cárdenas Vela was believed to be part of Los Rojos, a faction of the Gulf cartel that is loyal to the Cárdenas family and headed by Juan Mejía González, alias El R1. According to Stratfor, Los Rojos were under a power struggle with Los Metros, once headed by Samuel Flores Borrego (a.k.a. El Metro 3) and now headed by Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez. In addition, George W. Grayson, author and professor at The College of William & Mary, that even though Cárdenas Vela was the plaza boss of Matamoros, the core network of the Gulf Cartel will remain untouched, since he was not part of the inner circle of the current syndicate boss, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez. On the other hand, Sylvia Longmire, a drug war analyst, said that Cárdenas Vela's blood relationship with Osiel Cárdenas Guillén and Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, two former leaders in the Gulf Cartel, makes the arrest a significant event.

While cartel members have been living in the United States for years, their desire to not attract attention on U.S. soil means that their behavior is different than how they operate in Mexico. After the arrest, he made his first court appearance the following day, and was ordered held without bond for the charges that were pending. In an effort to conceal the drug distribution, Cárdenas Vela's organization utilized vehicles which had hidden compartments to conceal all kinds of drugs. In addition, the cartel members often encoded their oral and written descriptions, along with aliases and call signs, to avoid detection.

First appearance in court Cárdenas Vela entered the courtroom handcuffed and with his attorneys C.J. Quintanilla and Roberto J. Yzaguirre on 21 October 2011 wearing "a messy blue shirt and khaki pants." In soft-spoken Spanish, he told Judge Hanen that he was born and raised in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and only has a middle school education. The Assistant U.S. Attorney Jody Young read a three-page document out loud from the plea agreement the drug lord had signed as factual, detailing the decade-long career Cárdenas Vela had in the Gulf Cartel. The documented stated that he had managed the distribution of cocaine and marijuana as the plaza boss in the Mexican cities of San Fernando, Río Bravo, and Matamoros. It was then stated that Cárdenas Vela had ousted José Luis Zúñiga, also known as Comandante Wicho, to become the cartel boss of Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Guilty plea On 12 March 2012, Cárdenas Vela pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and marijuana in exchange for the government dropping money laundering and immigration charges. With this plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend that his punishment come at the lower end of the scale. But they also said that they are preparing a forfeiture order to seize the assets Cárdenas Vela, including but not limited to all-terrain vehicles, wave-runners, and a loaded Dodge Charger. Moreover, Jerry Robinette, a special agent-in-charge for ICE, said Cárdenas Vela's plea was a "successful result" of the local and federal authorities coordinating "to attack the command and control structure of the Gulf Cartel and to minimize its ability to use [the Rio Grande Valley] community as a safe haven."

The two bodyguards that were with Cárdenas Vela during his arrest – Francisco Javier Escalante Jiménez and Germán Alejandro Huízar Marroquín – were sentenced in February 2012 for lying to federal agents about the identity of Cárdenas Vela during his arrest. In Spanish, Escalante Jiménez apologized to his family, while Huízar Marroquín addressed the court and asked for the "lowest sentence possible." The third man that was in the vehicle when Cárdenas Vela was pulled over by the police on 20 October 2011 declared his true identity to the agents and remains uncharged. In addition, sources outside of law enforcement stated that Huizar Marroquín was a member of the Tamaulipas State Police. That same month, Judge Hanen put down the sentence the body guards had served.

Sentence On 17 November 2014, Cárdenas Vela was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was ordered to pay a US$100,000 fine by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen. The sentence had previously included a forfeit of US$5 million in cash and a property in Brownsville, Texas. The drug lord admitted to smuggling large shipments of cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. while working for the Gulf Cartel. Court records showed that Cárdenas Vela was facing life in prison. However, given his plea deal, his sentence was reduced in exchange for his cooperation with law enforcement. Part of the deal was that he had to describe the inner workings of the Gulf Cartel for federal agents.

Family and personal life Cárdenas Vela is the nephew of Osiel and Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, two former leaders of the Gulf Cartel.

He was known in the Gulf Cartel by his aliases: "El Junior," "El Comandante 900," and "El Rolex."