Adán Javier Medrano Rodríguez (24 December 1969),ánMedranoRodrí also known as El Licenciado (The Attorney), was a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He joined the cartel during the 1990s, and was a trusted enforcer of former kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. His roles in the cartel were managing drug shipments from Guatemala to Mexico, supervising murders ordered by Cárdenas, and coordinating cash transfers from the U.S. to Mexico.
In 1999, Medrano and his associates threatened two U.S. agents at gunpoint in Matamoros after the agents traveled there with an informant to gather intelligence on the cartel's operations. The agents and informant returned to the U.S. unharmed, and the incident triggered a massive manhunt for Medrano and the rest of the cartel leadership. A 2 million bounty was offered for his capture, and he was charged with a number of crimes. Medrano was arrested in 2002, and sentenced to 44 years in prison in 2006. He was unexpectedly released from prison during the early 2010s.
Early life and career
Medrano was born on 24 December 1969. According to his Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) profile, he is , weighed , and has brown hair and eyes. Medrano's birthplace and nationality are "unknown". The profile included his Social Security number, and described him as a Hispanic of medium build and complexion and "armed and dangerous".
Medrano joined the Gulf Cartel during the 1990s when Juan García Ábrego was in power. After García Ábrego was arrested in 1996, the cartel experienced internal strife as several factions and leaders vied for control. Medrano was part of a faction which fought other groups headed by cartel leaders Ángel Salvador Gómez Herrera ("El Chava"), Gilberto García Mena ("El June"), and Hugo Baldomero Medina Garza ("El Señor de los Tráilers") for control of the drug corridors in a region in Tamaulipas known as La Frontera Chica. Control of the cartel solidified under Osiel Cárdenas Guillén in 1998 and Medrano began working for him. Medrano and Cárdenas met when they worked for the Federal Judicial Police (PJF) in Tamaulipas. Under Cárdenas, Medrano reported to Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez ("El Coss") and Víctor Manuel Vázquez Mireles ("El Meme"). Based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he was part of groups known as Sierras and Tangos. Their members used aliases and codes to ensure anonymity. His roles in the cartel were managing death orders from Cárdenas and overseeing drug distribution from Matamoros. He also coordinated cash shipments of drug proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico, and verified the quality and amount of narcotics received from Guatemala to Chiapas, from where it was later sent to northern Mexico.
On 9 November 1999, Medrano and several associates, including Cárdenas, threatened two U.S. agents at gunpoint in Matamoros. The agents, who had traveled there with an informant to gather intelligence on the cartel's operations, were intercepted by the Gulf Cartel. Although Cárdenas threatened to kill the agents and informant during the standoff, after a heated discussion they were allowed to return to the U.S. unharmed. The incident led to increased law-enforcement efforts against the Gulf Cartel's leadership. On 14 March 2000, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (S.D. Tex.) in Brownsville filed a sealed indictment against Medrano for multiple marijuana and cocaine trafficking offenses, a money laundering scheme, and for assaulting the two agents. On 14 December 2000, the U.S. State Department announced a US$2 million bounty for Medrano, Cárdenas and José Manuel Garza Rendón ("La Brocha"), and unsealed the March indictment. On 9 April 2002, Medrano was charged again by the S.D. Tex. in a superseding indictment. The U.S. had an open extradition request, based on the Brownsville indictments. In Mexico, Medrano was wanted for drug trafficking, illegal possession of firearms, attempted homicide and organized-crime involvement. His arrest warrant was issued on 18 May 2000 by Judge Olga Sánchez Contreras of a Mexico City court.