The son of a Gulf Cartel operator who helped run a large-scale operation in Texas will spend two and a half years in federal prison for trying to intimidate federal agents. The agents were hunting for his father and potential witnesses against him.
This week, 20-year-old Hector “Torito” Reyes Jr. went before Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane who sentenced him to 30 months for the charge of obstruction of justice by threatening a federal officer, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas revealed. Reyes pleaded guilty to the charges on March 18.
“The Gulf Cartel is a brutal and violent organization, one that this office seeks to disrupt and dismantle,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani in a prepared statement. “So, there is no patience in my office when criminals, like Reyes, use the cartels to intimidate law enforcement and scare witnesses. We take such attempts seriously and will vigorously pursue those who, through such intimidation, seek to subvert our system of justice.”
According to court documents, Reyes is the son of Hector “Padrino” Reyes, a Gulf Cartel operator who helped run a cell in Rio Grande City, Texas, for the criminal organization. One of the charges against Reyes claims that he tried to illegally acquire a jaguar cub for a sacrifice to protect an important drug shipment.
Federal agents targeted that group, which was led by Ignacio “Nacho” Garza and had more than 30 other individuals as part of Operation Ice River. The multicount criminal indictment included Garza’s wife, Rio Grande City’s Secretary Melissa Garza, and local Justice of the Peace Roel “Role” Valadez.
In September 2022, federal authorities tried to arrest Reyes Sr. at his home in Mission, Texas. He had already fled to Monterrey, Mexico, where federal agents claim he was receiving protection from the Gulf Cartel.
In April 2023, Reyes Jr. uploaded a video on social media that showed various radios and had a message against the individuals searching for his father. The video mentioned Reyes Sr. had the support of the Gulf Cartel and that those searching for him should stand down or else.
Mexican authorities arrested Reyes Sr later that month in Cancun and eventually turned him over to U.S. authorities. During one of the court hearings, Reyes Jr. and another man tried to stare down one of the agents who testified in the case, spit at his vehicle, and then bragged in a phone call to Reyes Sr. that they scared him and followed him while driving away from the hearing.
In that jailhouse phone call, Reyes Jr. mentions that his father had ordered the video threats.
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.