A woman who was deported after a 2016 drug trafficking arrest is facing kidnapping charges in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The kidnapping is one of numerous violent crimes plaguing the city as rival factions of the Gulf Cartel fight for control of local smuggling operations.
This week, authorities arrested a woman and two gunmen during a stash house raid. They were allegedly holding a 17-year-old teenager for ransom. The woman, Luz Viridiana Cabrera, spent time in a Texas prison after a drug trafficking arrest in 2016. The two gunmen were identified in court documents as Ricardo Guajardo and Angel Nieto. All three are charged with kidnapping in Tamaulipas state court.
Tamaulipas authorities were able to track down a vehicle described by the victim’s relatives to the Vista Hermosa neighborhood. Investigators followed the vehicle and then tried to pull it over for a traffic stop but Cabrera, the driver, sped away. The cops followed the woman and saw her rush to a home with a gated driveway. As police approached, they heard a young man screaming, “Help, I have been kidnapped, they are going to kill me,” the incident report said.
Police moved into the house, arresting the three kidnapping suspects and rescuing the teen. The gunmen were demanding $2 million pesos or $100,000 USD for her release.
A records search of Cabrera revealed that Mission Police arrested her in 2016 on drug trafficking charges then pleaded to a lesser offense in the 430th Texas District Court. She spent six months in jail and was then turned over to immigration authorities for deportation.
The kidnapping comes at a time when factions of the Gulf Cartel are linked to kidnappings and disappearances in Reynosa and Rio Bravo. Law enforcement sources maintain that such actions remain lucrative despite the turf conflict.
In a separate case, relatives are still waiting for answers about the disappearance of two brothers who went missing this week in Reynosa when they tried to sell a car. According to a report filed with state authorities, the brothers, aged 25 and 22, drove a Chrysler sedan to a shopping center on the city’s west side to meet a potential buyer but never returned.
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.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.