Carlos Rosales Mendoza
Carlos Alberto Rosales Mendoza (12 February 1963 – 27 December 2015) was a former Mexican drug lord who founded and led an organized crime syndicate called La Familia Michoacana. He was a close friend and associate of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel.
Carlos Rosales Mendoza | |
|---|---|
| Born | Carlos Alberto Rosales Mendoza 12 February 1963 La Unión, Guerrero, Mexico |
| Died | 27 December 2015 (aged 52) |
| Cause of death | Torture, gunshot |
| Other names | El Tísico, El Prieto, El Carlitos |
| Occupation | La Familia Cartel drug lord |
| Criminal charge | Drug trafficking, organized crime and use of illegal firearms |
He was born in the municipality of La Unión, Guerrero in southern Mexico. When Rosales Mendoza founded the first cells of La Familia Michoacana in the 1980s, the Milenio Cartel was competing with the organization for the control of the production and distribution of narcotics in the state of Michoacán. In 2000, Rosales Mendoza united with the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas to thwart the Milenio Cartel, causing a wave of violence in western Mexico that lasted until the year 2003. He was arrested twice, on 24 October 2004, and on 5 August 2014, and set free in late 2014. He was found dead in a parking lot on 28 December 2015.