A councilwoman from the Mexican city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, now faces federal charges in Texas after U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested her for allegedly transporting 42 kilograms of cocaine.

The incident took place over the weekend at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, approximately 80 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border. Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents observed 33-year-old Denisse Ahumada Martinez driving a Mazda SUV with Mexican license plates as she approached the checkpoint, court documents revealed.

At that checkpoint, authorities sent her to a secondary inspection area where they used an X-ray scanning device and found 42 bundles of drugs hidden inside the car’s door panels and seats.

During an interview with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents following her arrest, Martinez said she had previously transported drugs, court documents revealed.

After processing, federal authorities took Martinez before a U.S. magistrate judge who ordered that she be held without bond pending further hearings.

Martinez is currently serving as a city councilwoman in the Mexican border city of Reynosa. She received her position in Reynosa as a member of the Green Party (Partido Verde). Since then, she became a member of the National Action Party (PAN) and she is a close political ally and friend of Mayor Carlos Victor “Makito” Pena Ortiz who is from the Morena Party.

As Breitbart Texas has reported, several Mexican border city politicians and their families have been linked by U.S. authorities to drug cartels and their illicit activities.

In December, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested Jesus Tapia Fernandez, a former Tamaulipas state representative, along with 11 other businessmen and women including Carlos Fabian “El Cuate” Martinez, the son-in-law of the former maximum leader of the Gulf Cartel Osiel Cardenas. As Breitbart Texas reported, that group is accused of using the Gulf Cartel to establish a monopoly over the legal import of merchandise by travelers by using violence to extort them for travel fees.

In November, the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ismael Garcia Almanza, the manager of the Matamoros city water system, after federal authorities found a small amount of cocaine in his vehicle. After posting bail, Garcia Almanza claimed that the case was a political vendetta.

In March 2022, Texas State Troopers arrested Nallely Villarreal, the daughter of Matamoros City Commissioner Rosy Perez, after finding a brick of cocaine in her vehicle. In that case, Perez went to court hearings where a local attorney claimed that she had strong ties to the community and convinced a U.S. magistrate judge to release her in lieu of a $50,000 bond. After her release, as Breitbart Texas reported exclusively, Villarreal absconded into Mexico and has since been declared a fugitive by the U.S. Marshals Service.

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.