The Gulf Cartel is one of Mexico’s most storied, wealthy and established operations. Working with Colombian suppliers, this group moves drugs north from its stronghold in
Tamaulipas, and is known to outsource other activities, especially those related to human trafficking, to local “enforcer” gangs. Its one-time boss,
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, was considered the country’s most powerful underworld leader at one point, and its enforcers, the
Zetas, Mexico’s most feared gang.