Jalisco officials announced Sunday that Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, 80, had died; the Guadalajara cartel co-founder had been convicted of the 1985 murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent.
The state security ministry said he had been monitored at the medical facility and had a guarded prognosis before his death. It attributed his death to multiple organ failure.
AFP reported that Gallardo had been imprisoned since 1989 and was moved from prison to a hospital two days before he died.
AFP also reported that Gallardo was convicted of the 1985 murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar, who worked undercover for the DEA. Camarena’s killing drew outrage in the United States, AFP said.
Gallardo was among the founders of the Guadalajara cartel, AFP reported. The Sinaloa cartel later emerged from that group. AFP also said Gallardo played a role in building ties with Colombian drug traffickers.
