Rafael Cárdenas Vela

Rafael Cárdenas Vela
Mug shot of Cárdenas Vela
Born	Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Other names	El Rolex El Junior Comandante 900
Occupation	Gulf Cartel leader
Known for	Drug trafficking, Identity theft, money laundering
Salary	$5 million (Drug proceeds)
Title	Gulf Cartel drug lord
Term	2000–2011
Predecessor	José Luis Zúñiga Hernández
Relatives	Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Antonio Cárdenas Guillén Mario Cárdenas Guillén (uncles)

Rafael Cárdenas Vela (a.k.a. El Junior) is a former Mexican drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel. He is the nephew of Antonio and Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, two men who at one time led the criminal organization.

Born and raised in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Cárdenas Vela began his criminal career in the year 2000, where he served as the regional boss of the Gulf Cartel in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. During his time in power, he reportedly bribed and threatened local leaders and policemen in order allow the Gulf Cartel to introduce and move narcotics around the municipality freely. Nine years later, Cárdenas Vela was promoted by his superiors to the Río Bravo, Tamaulipas corridor, directly south across the U.S-Mexico border. In Río Bravo, he reportedly supervised cocaine and marijuana shipments heading to the United States and oversaw human smuggling rings.

The death of his uncle Antonio in November 2010 created an internal division in the Gulf Cartel, but Cárdenas Vela managed to become the regional boss of the cartel in Matamoros in March 2011. Amid the turmoil, Cárdenas Vela began to have problems with the drug lord Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez and his henchmen. Fearing for his own life, Cárdenas Vela fled to the state of Texas and managed the operatives of the cartel behind the scenes. But his career came to an end on 20 October 2011 when federal agents arrested him in Port Isabel, Texas.

In the Gulf Cartel, Cárdenas Vela made more than $5 million and ensured that that money "went into the pockets of Mexican law enforcement officers as bribes," and had about "500 armed men at his beck and call."

Beginning in the year 2000, Cárdenas Vela spent several years as the drug boss of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, a city just 30 miles south of Matamoros and with an important drug corridor. As leader, the first thing he reportedly did was visit the city's mayor, police forces, newspapers, and media outlets to pay them off or made sure they understood that he was in charge. When it was time to move cocaine shipments, Cárdenas Vela notified the police and warned them not to get out of their headquarters until he called them back. Introducing cocaine through San Fernando, however, was a difficult task for the Gulf Cartel; due to the military checkpoint in the municipality, the cartel had to find its way in moving narcotics. If they could not get it through the checkpoints or surround the base by using dirt roads, aircraft would be used to bring cocaine in 500 kilograms per load. The planes would then arrive at strips the cartel made, and over ten men would unload the drugs and take them for storage in San Fernando, under the supervision of Cárdenas Vela. Once all the drugs were unloaded and in San Fernando, the drug bosses of the border cities would send their henchmen to pick up the loads in large armed convoys. The armed men reportedly made checkpoints throughout the highway to prevent any rival drug gangs to interrupt their operatives and to make sure the military did not get near. According to Cárdenas Vela, sometimes it took all day and night to count all of the drug loads. When the Gulf Cartel was sure that the highways were safe, they would move the drugs north to the border.