A newly unsealed indictment revealed how associates of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel have been able to establish a monopoly over legal commerce on one of the international trade bridges connecting Tamaulipas and Texas. Cartel associates have robbed, threatened, kidnapped, and killed those who refused to follow their commerce rules.
This week, a U.S. federal judge unsealed an 11-count indictment charging 12 businessmen and women with conspiracy charges related to price fixing, extortion, and money laundering. Breitbart Texas reported late last month on the initial arrest of Carlos Fabian “El Cuate” Martinez, the alleged ringleader of the conspiracy and son-in-law of Osiel Cardenas Guillen; the jailed supreme leader of the Gulf Cartel. In addition to Martinez, authorities arrested some Mexican politicians and business leaders tied to the case. One of the politicians is Jesus Tapia Fernandez, a former Tamaulipas state representative. Also listed in the indictment are 68-year-olf Sandra Guerra Medina and 56-year-old Mireya Miranda who both own their transmigrantes agencies.
The criminal indictment alleges that Martinez and the rest of the group would use various tactics to control the price, flow, and profits from “transmigrantes” for several years at the Los Indios Free Trade International Bridge. The port of entry is just west of Matamoros and, for years, was the only route available to transmigrantes or individuals who would legally travel from the U.S. through Mexico to Central America taking goods and vehicles for resale. The indictment claims that Martinez and his group established a monopoly over the businesses that could provide customs services to transmigrantes, fix the prices, and charge a fee for the protection of each vehicle crossing. Federal prosecutors claim that all of the companies that could provide services to transmigrantes were forced to enter a profit pool.
Businesses which refused to enter the pool would become targets of violent attacks at the hands of the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel. The criminal indictment listed kidnappings, shootings, and murders carried out in previous years in Mexico against transmigrantes and their agencies.
The indictment mentions phone calls and text messages with threats mentioning the “Matamoros Plaza,” a phrase commonly used to refer to the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel.
“This case is further proof that organized crime is active and negatively impacting our communities,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio in a prepared statement relating to the case since HSI was the lead agency investigating the conspiracy. “These violent criminal organizations monopolized the transmigrante industry by using acts of violence, threats, and even extortion. HSI and its law enforcement partners are committed to dismantling organized crime by eliminating their corrupt influence in our communities and protecting our nation’s borders.”
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.
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