Mexican state authorities arrested a fearsome narco-terrorist who had been linked in the past to car bombs. He is also the leader of a Gulf Cartel faction masquerading as a self-defense group.
The arrest took place in the Monterrey metropolitan area, where Tamaulipas state police and the Nuevo Leon Attorney General captured Octavio “El Profe or El Tarzan” Leal Moncada, 70. He is known as the leader of the Pedro J. Mendez Armed Column, a wing of the Gulf Cartel that masquerades as a civilian self-defense group.
The arrest was based on a warrant charging Leal Moncada with double murder in the town of Hidalgo, the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office revealed.
Breitbart Texas first reported on Leal Moncada in 2015, when this publication obtained a recorded phone conversation where two former top leaders with the Gulf Cartel discussed car bombs to target law enforcement.
“The old Moncada told me that when they want, he will go talk to El Toro’s boss to go throw car bombs at the [Tamaulipas State Police], polihuachos (Mexican soldiers), poliazul (federales),” said Roberto “Comandante Chiricuas” Saavedra Santana, in the recording with Alberto “Wero Clefoas” Cleofas Martinez.
The cartel commander was referring to Leal Moncada, allegedly known within the Gulf Cartel for using car bombs.
Most recently, Moncada has been linked to murders, kidnappings, human smuggling, and the large-scale fuel theft schemes. Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas that Moncada used his gunmen to shoot at the homes of local farmers to chase them off their properties.
The cartel boss has also been singled out as the man responsible for setting up blockades along the highway between Ciudad Victoria and Monterrey.
Moncada was a supporter of Americo Villarreal, the ultimately successful Tamaulipas gubernatorial candidate for Mexico’s ruling party Morena. The crime boss was key in getting at least five mayors to support Villarreal. In the past, Moncada had reportedly supported other parties, including the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN).
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.