Juan Nepomuceno Guerra

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Guerra and the second or maternal family name is Cárdenas.

Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Nepomuceno Guerra pictured on far left
Born	Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Cárdenas (1915-07-18)July 18, 1915 Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Died	July 12, 2001(2001-07-12) (aged 85) Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Other names	Don Juan; El Padrino; El Padrino de Matamoros[1]
Occupation(s)	Gulf Cartel leader and founder
Relatives	Juan García Abrego (nephew)

Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Cárdenas (July 18, 1915 – July 12, 2001) was a Mexican drug lord who founded and led the Gulf Cartel for over 50 years. He is often considered the "godfather" of U.S–Mexico border cartels.^[2]

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, his successor in the cartel and once considered 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, Nepomuceno Guerra was able to control all the contraband moving across the Rio Grande. ^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

He died of respiratory disease.^[2]

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.^[6][7]

In popular culture

In Narcos: Mexico, Juan Nepomuceno Guerra is played by the Mexican actor Jesus Ochoa.^[8]

See also

• Mexican Drug War

References

1. Figueroa, Yolanda (1996). El Capo del Golfo: vida y captura de Juan García Ábrego. Grijalbo. p. 324. ISBN 970-05-0666-5.
2. Peralta González, César (12 July 2001). "Falleció el fundador del cártel del Golfo". El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
3. Dillon, Sam (9 February 1996). "Matamoros Journal;Canaries Sing in Mexico, but Uncle Juan Will Not". The New York Times.
4. Castillo García, Gustavo (15 March 2003). "La historia del cártel del Golfo". La Jornada (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 November 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
5. Dillon, Sam (9 February 1996). "Matamoros Journal; Canaries Sing in Mexico, but Uncle Juan Will Not". New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
6. Vargas, Erik (27 June 2020). "Esta es la calle de Tamaulipas que lleva el nombre de fundador del Cártel del Golfo". Milenio (in Spanish). Grupo Milenio. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
7. "Honran con calle a fundador de Cártel en Reynosa" (in Spanish). Saltillo, Coahuila: Zócalo Saltillo. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
8. "Quién es Juan Guerra de Narcos México, serie de Netflix". 12 February 2020.