Gulf Cartel

(Newser) - Juan Francisco Saenz-Tamez was ruthless enough to become chief of Mexico's Gulf cartel at the age of 23—but apparently not smart enough to avoid visiting the US, even after a federal jury indicted him on three drug and money-laundering counts. Saenz-Tamez was busted during a shopping trip to...

(Newser) - He's just 20 years old, but Juan Pablo Vazquez is believed to have killed 79 people ... at least. Reuters reports that Vazquez was nabbed this month in northern Mexico, and has since confessed to having a hand in 45 murders; he is being investigated in connection with another 34...

(Newser) - The bloody war President Felipe Calderon launched in 2006 to squash Mexico's big drug cartels instead created scores of smaller ones, the country's new attorney general says. "I would calculate there are between 60 and 80 (new cartels), both medium-sized and small," Jesus Murillo told Mexican...

(Newser) - In a huge victory for President Felipe Calderón, Mexican authorities have arrested the head of the infamous Gulf Cartel: Mario Cardenas, alias "Fatso." Marines captured Cardenas in a raid in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas on Monday, and authorities showed him off to the media yesterday, Reuters...