Former Gulf Cartel Boss 'El Gafe' Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison

"Morogris" and "Itzli" for Borderland Beat

José Tiburcio Hernández Fuentes, AKA El Gafe

A federal judge in the State of Mexico sentenced Jose Tiburcio Hernandez Fuentes, AKA El Gafe, one of the former leaders of the Gulf Cartel in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, to 37 years in prison.

In April 2015, he was arrested in Reynosa while in possession of military-exclusive firearms. A federal judge found him guilty of the firearm charges, as well as of organized crime involvement and drug trafficking.

He is currently serving his sentence at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 ("Altiplano"), Mexico's maximum-security prison.

Criminal career

The criminal career of El Gafe reportedly began in the city of Río Bravo, Tamaulipas, in the year 2006.  It was then and there he became a lookout (halcón) under the command of Juan Manuel Rodríguez Rodríguez, aka Juan Perros. Apparently he excelled at this job and was described by government officials as being an expert at monitoring the movement of soldiers and police officers.

In 2009, high-ranking cartel boss Samuel Flores Borrego AKA Metro 3, former bodyguard of drug lord Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, appointed him as head of five criminal cells responsible for oil theft, extortion, kidnapping, and drug distribution in Tamaulipas. During his tenure, El Gafe defended his turf from the rival group Los Zetas, which was the former paramilitary wing of the Gulf Cartel.

In 2012, El Gafe was named the head of plaza for Reynosa by Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño, AKA X-20.  However, this conflicts with a number of sources that placed Héctor David Delgado Santiago, AKA El Metro 4, as head of plaza up until his death on January 15, 2013, and thereafter Juan Francisco Martínez Ramírez, AKA El Paquito, up until April 2014, when he was pushed out of the plaza by Juan Perros, and his allies, including El Gafe, who took his place as head of plaza.

El Gafe taken into custody

Regardless, in March 2013, El Gafe participated with X-20 in a purge of the Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel which saw the death of Miguel Villarreal, AKA El Gringo, and Jesús García Román, AKA El Puma. El Gafe then became an operative coordinator for Los Metros and, following the August 17, 2013 arrest of X-20, operations chief for Los Metros under the leadership of the successor of X-20, Juan Perros Junior.

In June 2014, El Gafe participated in an attack against the Federal Police that were traveling on the Reynosa-San Fernando highway, near the Periquitos ejido, which left one officer dead and three injured.  Apparently thereafter, he was arrested aboard a vehicle during an operation by the Federal Police and marines; it is unclear when and how he was released.

El Gafe continued as head of plaza for Reynosa under the command of Juan Francisco Sáenz Tamez, AKA El Panochitas, who assumed leadership Los Metros up until his arrest in October 2014.  Thereafter, El Gafe became leader of Los Metros until his arrest.

Sources: Milenio; Borderland Beat archives