Gulf Cartel Chief Captured in Texas Heads to Prison

A top-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel who fled to Texas to escape his rivals will spend 20 years in a U.S. prison on various drug trafficking charges. In Mexico, the man commanded a squad of approximately 240 men armed with machine guns, grenades, and homemade cannons.

On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle sentenced 34-year-old Luis Ivan “El Machin” Nino Duenes to 20 years in prison on conspiracy charges related to the mass importation of cocaine and marijuana. Nino Duenes previously pleaded guilty to those charges in 2014 in a cold plea with prosecutors, but his sentencing hearing was postponed numerous times.

On October 26, 2011, Nino Duenes and his boss Jose Luis “Wicho” or “XW” Zuniga crossed from Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, into Texas where authorities arrested them near the river. The bosses were fleeing from a rival faction of the Gulf Cartel after a series of fierce battles. At the time of their arrest, the group had various bricks of cocaine, cash, and a jeweled handgun. Since then, Zuniga has been convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, prosecutors claimed Nino Duenes “utilized automatic weapons, grenades, homemade cannons, and body armor” to provide security for the Gulf Cartel’s drug trafficking operations. Prosecutors also claimed Nino Duenes was the commander for Wicho’s forces and led a squad of approximately 240 gunmen into violent shootouts.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.