• Leader of the Gulf Cartel Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, 1971

Costilla was born on August 1, 1971. From 1992 to 1995 he worked as a Matamoros city police officer, where he became familiar with the drug trade.

After Osiel Cárdenas Guillén seized control of the Gulf Cartel in 1995, he selected Costilla as his lieutenant. The Gulf Cartel is responsible for the importation and distribution of thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana into the United States annually. After the arrest of the cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, Costilla took control and became partner with Heriberto Lazcano and Hector Manuel Sauceda Gamboa (El Karis). Sauceda was killed in a gun battle with the Federal Police on February 17, 2009, and Heriberto Lazcano formed his own rival cartel, Los Zetas.

Costilla is one of a number of high ranking members of the Gulf Cartel who has been indicted in the United States for drug trafficking activities. Costilla has also been indicted for threatening U.S. law enforcement officials in November 1999. In that incident, FBI and DEA agents in Mexico were forcibly stopped at gunpoint by a group of heavily armed men, allegedly including Costilla and other key members of the Gulf Cartel. Costilla and the other Cartel members were said to have pointed AK-47 rifles at the U.S. Federal agents and threatened to kill them. After a tense standoff, the FBI and DEA agents were allowed to leave.

After the death of Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén in a gunfight with the Mexican Marines on 5 November 2010, Costilla has taken full control of the Gulf Cartel and leads the war against Los Zetas throughout Northeastern and Central Mexico. The recent fights between Los Metros and Los Rojos, the two subgroups within the Gulf Cartel, were reportedly caused by Costilla Sánchez, who set up his rivals to get arrested or killed by the government. In addition, according to the Proceso magazine, Costilla Sánchez has some connections with high ranking military officials, but this information has not been confirmed.

Mexico offered a 30 million pesos (US$2.3 million) bounty. In the United States, he was charged with 12 counts of drug trafficking and money laundering and is also wanted for assaulting a federal law enforcement officer. The U.S. Department of State offered a reward of up to $5 million USD for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

On the morning of 28 June 2010, Rodolfo Torre Cantú, the leading candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the Tamaulipas state elections, was heading to the airport in Ciudad Victoria to close his campaign in Valle Hermoso and Matamoros, Tamaulipas six days before the elections. While heading to the airport, Torre Cantú's convoy was ambushed by armed assailants, killing the candidate and six other people who were in his entourage. His death marked the highest profile murder in the Mexican Drug War and the highest profile assassination in Mexico since the death of Luis Donaldo Colosio, the PRI presidential candidate for the 1994 elections. By 2011 and into 2012, the Mexican authorities still did not have solid evidence to prosecute Torre Cantú's assassins.

Nonetheless, Costilla Sánchez was linked to Torre Cantú's assassination by the PGR and the DEA agencies on 20 September 2012. Reportedly, Torre Cantú was killed by an armed squad directly linked to Costilla Sánchez for refusing to protect the cartel's investments that allowed money laundering from drug proceeds. Tamaulipas' former governor, Tomás Yarrington, has also been linked to Torre Cantú's death by the DEA since February 2012.

The Mexican Navy arrested Costilla Sánchez on 12 September 2012 at the residential Lomas de Rosales neighborhood in Tampico, Tamaulipas without firing a single bullet. Around 30 marines chased a convoy of gunmen that led to the house where Costilla Sánchez was staying. Hours before the arrest, five men working for Costilla Sánchez were apprehended in Río Bravo, Tamaulipas. Costilla Sánchez was presented on camera on the morning of 13 September 2012, handcuffed and wearing a long-sleeve shirt. Ten bodyguards of Costilla Sánchez were also arrested during the operation. Ernesto Banda Chaires, one of the detainees, is believed to be the regional boss of the cartel in Tampico. In the Wednesday arrest, the Mexican authorities confiscated several assault rifles, pistols encrusted with jewelry, and a number of expensive-looking watches. When asked if he had anything to say about his criminal charges and if he had a lawyer, Costilla Sánchez shook his head. His arrest came a few days after the apprehension of Mario Cárdenas Guillén, the leader of one of factions in the cartel. Moreover, Costilla Sánchez is currently detained at the installations of the SIEDO, Mexico's intelligence agency.

Costilla Sánchez was an evasive capo who preferred to stay low-profile. Only two photographs of him were ever made public prior to his arrest.

It is likely that Costilla Sánchez will be extradited to the United States, raising political implications for the top politicians in the states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz who have been accused of taking bribes from the Gulf Cartel. Among them is Tomás Yarrington, the former governor of Tamaulipas who is now a fugitive. If the testimonies end up being damaging, President Enrique Peña Nieto will have to take steps to clean up the image of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed Mexico for 71 years and was tainted with an image of corruption. In addition, with Costilla Sánchez's capture, the Gulf Cartel appears to be extremely weakened and the stage is set for Mexico's two largest criminal organizations – the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetas – to fight for the turf of the Gulf Cartel. This will be troubling for the government, which has vowed to reduce the drug violence that has left more than 55,000 dead in six years.

Two days after the arrest of Costilla Sánchez, 16 people were killed as a result of the Gulf Cartel infighting in two separate attacks carried out in Nuevo Laredo and San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Reportedly, a message was left aside the bodies, which were dumped in public view.

On 30 September 2015, Costilla Sánchez was extradited to the U.S. along with twelve other criminals, including former high ranking Beltrán Leyva Cartel leader Edgar Valdez Villarreal. On 1 October, he declared himself not guilty of the charges imposed at a federal court in Brownsville, Texas. On 26 September 2017, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute cocaine and cannabis, in addition to two counts of assault on federal agents for the standoff in 1999. His sentencing was scheduled for 18 January 2018.