BIOGRAPHY
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, also known as El Padrino, was born on January 8, 1946, in Culiacán. He is a former Mexican drug lord who was the head of the Guadalajara Cartel. This cartel was one of the first criminal groups in Mexico to establish a true drug trafficking industry.
After being arrested for the first time in 1977 for possession of marijuana, Gallardo partnered with Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, known as Don Neto, and Rafael Caro Quintero, known as El Narco de Narcos, to establish the Guadalajara Cartel. This cartel quickly became one of the most powerful in Mexico, controlling drug trafficking throughout the country and exporting tons of cocaine to North America.
In 1985, Gallardo ordered the assassination of DEA agent Kiki Camarena, which resulted in a intensification of efforts to fight the cartel by American and Mexican authorities. Gallardo was eventually arrested in 1989 and sentenced to 40 years in prison in Mexico. He was released in 2018 after serving 29 years of his sentence.