José Manuel Garza Rendón (born 7 December 1952), also known as La Brocha ("The Brush"), is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
The brothers reportedly collaborated with organized-crime members while they worked for the PJF, and authorities suspect that Garza Rendón gained their support.
[a][5] In 1989, Garza Rendón returned to Tamaulipas and was released from the PJF; at that time, former Gulf Cartel kingpin Juan García Ábrego was heading the syndicate.
[7] Garza Rendón also worked closely with Gulf Cartel enforcer Gilberto García Mena ("El June"), providing support to Cárdenas.
[b][15] Garza Rendón's wife, Ludivina Benavides Fuentes, told investigators that he had not lived in Matamoros since 1999, but eyewitnesses reported that he frequented nightclubs there.
[17] On 14 December 2000, the U.S. State Department announced a US$2 million bounty for Garza Rendón, Cárdenas, and Adán Medrano Rodríguez ("El Licenciado"), and unsealed the March indictment.
[18][19] In Mexico, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Garza Rendón on 13 May 2000 for drug-trafficking, money-laundering, organized-crime involvement and illegal possession of military-exclusive weapons charges.
[24] However, Garza Rendón and his associates escaped capture when security forces experienced delays in gaining approval for search warrants and finalizing details of the raids.
[27] They speculated that he feared for his life because he was under pressure from members of the cartel, who wanted him dead for mishandling the drug business while he was addicted to cocaine.
[28] According to Mexican authorities, he reached out to the U.S. government and asked to become part of the United States Federal Witness Protection Program in exchange for his surrender.
[29] An FBI spokesperson based in McAllen said that Garza Rendón telephoned U.S. authorities from Mexico and told them he was going to surrender the following day.
hearing on 14 June 2001,[30] Garza Rendón pled not guilty to the drug-trafficking and assault charges and said that he had no connection to Cárdenas or other members of the cartel.
The drug charge stemmed from the failed delivery of nearly a ton of marijuana in Houston, Texas, which Garza Rendón helped to coordinate.
[3] His boss, Cárdenas, was extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and faced trial on multiple charges in Houston;[34][35] it is unknown if Garza Rendón gave investigators useful information about him.
[3] After serving most of his sentence,[4] he was released from prison on 7 April 2009;[36] it was unknown at the time if Garza Rendón was permitted to stay in the U.S. or if the U.S. government was planning to deport him to Mexico.
[40] On 10 April 2009, Garza Rendón was brought to the Stanton Street Bridge in El Paso and deported to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
[42] In a press release, the PGR said that it would continue to cooperate with international law-enforcement agencies to bring Mexican nationals like Garza Rendón to justice.
[5] He was imprisoned at Reclusorio Norte, a Mexico City penitentiary,[45] and federal judge Olga Sánchez Contreras began legal proceedings on 4 May 2009 for the Mexican charges.