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Garcia Abrego remains lofty in underworldBy JOSH LEMIEUX Associated Press WriterMATAMOROS — Juan Garcia Abrego, reputed head of one of the largest drug-trafficking organizations in North America, has survived setbacks that would have sent lesser drug lords crashing down.The Mexican government offers a $1 million reward for his arrest. The FBI offers $300,000.Authorities say the man who built an empire after bloody clashes with rivals continues to control the bulk of Colombian cocaine flowing from northeastern Mexico into the United States.“It remains to be seen if he can continue to survive with all the heat on him,” FBI spokesman James Conway said.Indeed, the heat is on the 50-year-old fugitive leader of the so-called Gulf Cartel. But it’s not the first time.Garcia Abrego’s brother, Humberto, who is considered a top figure in the organization, was arrested last week and jailed in Mexico City.The Mexican attorney general’s office has said it is investigating possible links between the cartel and the Sept. 28 assassination of the No. 2 man in the ruling party, Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu.Abraham Rubio Canales, who has been charged as a conspirator in the plot, has a daughter married to a cartel lieutenant named Raul Valladares del Angel, now in prison.Other reports in the Mexican media — based on statements from a former Mexican attorney general adviser named Eduardo Valle Espinosa — have speculated about potential links between Garcia Abrego and the March 23 assassination of ruling party presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.But authorities in both countries so far have announced no firm evidence of such a role.“We don’t have any perception that he’s involved in those assassinations. We are not hearing that,” said Fred Ball, special J agent in charge of the U.S.Herald tile photo Juan Garcia AbregoDrug Enforcement Administration office in McAllen.A. Wayne Smith, a lead FBI agent on the case, and Melissa Annis, the top Garcia Abrego prosecutor for the U.S. Justice Department, also said they’ve seen no credible evidence that Garcia Abrego was involved in political assassination.The most recent statements from the Mexican attorney general’s office suggest that antireform elements of the ruling party conspired to kill Ruiz Massieu and other party officials.Still, the Mexican government has not ruled out drug links. And authorities on both sides of the Rio Grande say Garcia Abrego has ordered several hits to remain the top distributor of cocaine from Colombia’s Cali cartel.‘They are the most significant and most powerful transshipment arm of the Cali cartel,” Conway said.Garcia Abrego charges hefly commissions to the Cali suppliers, but he guarantees delivery and payment for each shipment, Conway said.That policy might explain how he survived the seizure of 9 tons of cocaine at a stash house in HvUnpn in 1969.In 1990, the Mexican government seized several Garcia Abrego ranches and arrested (See LOFTY, Page 16A)
Newspaper Details
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville, Texas, US
Sun, Oct 09, 1994
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Benjamin S.
USA 05 Jan 2024
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