The 51-year-old former head of the Cartel del Golfo was sentenced to life in prison for his role in distributing drugs into the country, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Jorge Costilla-Sanchez pleaded guilty to charges of drug smuggling and conspiracy in September 2017. He was sentenced Thursday and ordered to pay $5 million, the amount he profited from drug trafficking, the news release stated.

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“In handing down the sentence, [U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr.] noted Costilla-Sanchez’s extensive involvement in trafficking illegal drugs into the country, the news release stated. “The court commented that during the 10 years Costilla-Sanchez was the head of the CDG, he led a violent criminal organization, using guns and intimidation to maintain control of their illegal drug trafficking enterprise and resorting to violence and killing to maintain power.”

Costilla-Sanchez became head of the CDG after the arrest of former CDG leader Osiel Cardenas in 2003. Prior to joining the cartel, Costilla-Sanchez was a municipal police officer in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

“During the time Costilla-Sanchez was the leader, he was responsible for importing over 10,000 kilograms of cocaine and 140,000 kilograms of marijuana to the United States,” the news release stated.

Costilla-Sanchez also previously pleaded guilty to threatening two federal agents while he was being investigated for drug trafficking in 1999. He was arrested in 2012 and extradited to the U.S. in 2015.

Costilla-Sanchez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.