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Saturday, February 6, 2021

'Kike' Cárdenas, Nephew of Legendary Gulf Cartel Leader, Killed in Cartel Infighting

 "Morogris" for Borderland Beat (formerly "MX")

Enrique 'Kike' Cardenas was the son of Gulf Cartel leader Homero Cardenas Guillen ('El Orejon' and/or 'El Majadero'). His father reportedly died of a heart attack in 2014.

News in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is spreading like wildfire with the reported death of Enrique 'Kike' Cárdenas, a member of a notorious criminal dynasty that has been part of the Gulf Cartel for over twenty years. The city of Matamoros, across the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas, has long been a bastion of the Gulf Cartel and the faction headed by the Cárdenas clan. 


Kike Cardenas was the nephew of legendary drug kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who headed the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Local media reports say that Kike Cardenas was gunned down by sicarios working for his cousin Jose Alfredo Cardenas Martinez ('El Contador'). This murder is the latest episode in the cartel power struggle unfolding in the Matamoros plaza.

Matamoros infighting

Borderland Beat reported last year that the Matamoros plaza has at least two major factions. One of them is headed Raul Garcia Martinez ('El Loco' and/or 'Escorpion 2'). Although not a clan member, Garcia Martinez was a close associate of late drug kingpin Antonio Cardenas Guillen ('Tony Tormenta') since the early 2000s.


He has the support of Cardenas clan members Carlos Martinez Perez ('El Cuate') and Mario Alberto Cárdenas Medina (‘El Betito'). The latter has been imprisoned since 2019 but reportedly continues to support his faction through envoys.


Gunmen approached Kike Cardenas while he was driving back home


Feeling he was not getting a fair share of the power, clan member Jose Alfredo Cardenas Martinez ('El Contador') decided to make his own faction to control Matamoros. However, his multiple arrests complicated his plan to consolidate his crew.


During his time in prison, he decided to appoint Evaristo Cruz Sanchez ('El Vaquero') to head his faction and fight the one mentioned earlier. In October 2020, El Contador was released from prison and has not been arrested again. It is unknown if he continued working with El Vaquero.


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Sources: Valor Tamaulipeco; MyRGV; Valor x Tamaulipas; Borderland Beat archives

20 comments:

  1. Just keep killing each others 👍😎

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  2. They r at it again

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  3. If moros falls, it’s because they brought upon themselves. Who would have thought.

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  4. CDG/CARDENAS infighting causing them to stay weak. Too many wannabe chiefs. Do they even have a direct source of supply for the fishscale or just buy from other DTOs in CA or México? Lastly, IDK if the deceased was a leader but these dudes need to do more physical work.....

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    1. Vaquero and Contador together have been pushing to make outside connections. You see it in SLP, CDMX, etc. They are the only or few ones in the Matamoros faction thinking outside the box. The other peeps are sitting there enjoying what they have now. Some cleaning house will happen, either internally or from the outside.

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    2. I think the most these guys do is cross dope for other DTOs.

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    3. Nah. The leader of his faction is Escorpión 2, as the article says. Old fella under TT. Then is Cuate Mtz who has some weight in NL through money launderers.

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  5. From what I understand he wasn't that respected her more got by from the families name recognition.
    Can you shed any light on that MX?

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    1. Correct. Many of the Cardenas are seen as "narco-juniors". Kike Cardenas had bad rep for being too noisy. There's a story of him beating a waiter in Matamoros.

      El Contador is much older since he's the son of the elder Rafael Cardenas Guillen, hence the disconnect.

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    2. @MX

      Rafael Cardenas Guillen
      Rafael Cardenas vela ?

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    3. Rafael Cardenas GUILLEN. Osiel had a much older brother named Rafael. Hardly any sources about him but check out Ricardo Ravelo's book about Osiel. He's mention there.

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  6. Who's in charge of reynosa now and is it true cjng pays metros

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  7. So who is el contadors parents ? ?

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    1. Rafael Cardenas Guillen is the father. Not sure about his mother.

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  8. I’ve seen el cuate in San Peter at the sonora grill

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  9. When cockroaches dies, it's a win for hard working Mexican people.

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  10. Before cyclones and escorpiones
    It was los tangos

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    Replies
    1. Tangos = Tampico? I think JC and Meme loco were Tangos.

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  11. Nothing personal. Just business.

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