Juan García Abrego[3][4] (Spanish pronunciation: [xwɑŋ ɡaɾˈsia aˈβɾeɣo]; born September 13, 1944) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Reports date his trafficking career beginning in the mid-1970s, exporting marijuana from Mexico into the U.S. states of Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

By renegotiating deals with the Cali Cartel, García Abrego was able to secure 50% of every shipment out of Colombia as payment for delivery, instead of the US$1,500 per kilo they were previously receiving.

This change forced García Abrego to begin stockpiling hundreds of tons of cocaine along Mexico's northern border in warehouses;[8] however, this allowed him to set up his own distribution network and expand his political influence.

[5] By the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, it was estimated García Abrego was smuggling over 300 metric tons per year across the Mexico–United States border.

The United States Department of Justice would confiscate over US$53 million between 1989 and 1993 that was being laundered through two corrupt American Express employees as proof of such large scale operations.

[11] García Abrego was also involved in providing protection to other cartels wishing to operate within corridors already claimed by his organization.

García Abrego reached out to an FBI agent, Claudio de la O., whom he was bribing, to have the men taken care of.

to have received a bulletproof Mercury Grand Marquis and US$500,000 from a rival cartel for enacting García Abrego's arrest.

allege that García Abrego was arrested to satisfy U.S. demands and meet certification, from the Department of Justice (DOJ), as a trade partner.

In the ten-minute shootout that followed, 300 rounds were fired and multiple innocent people were killed, including a security guard, a husband and child, and a bedridden woman.

[16] Two years after the 1984 clinic shootout, Ernesto Flores, an editor for the Mexican daily newspaper El Popular, was executed.

García Abrego was convicted on 22 counts including money laundering, drug trafficking, intent to distribute and running an ongoing criminal enterprise.

He was sentenced by presiding judge Ewing Werlein, Jr., to 11 consecutive life terms, and is currently incarcerated at USP Hazelton in Preston County, West Virginia.