Feds Arrest Texas Border City Officials on Bribery Charges

Federal agents arrested two top border city officials who are accused of demanding cash bribes from a business owner.

Information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that on Thursday morning in Edcouch, Texas, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested City Manager Victor Hugo De La Cruz and City Councilman Rene Flores. The arrest came after a Federal Grand Jury handed down a four-count indictment accusing them of various bribery charges on September 2. The two city officials are expected to go before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker on Friday morning.

According to federal prosecutors, from  June to September 2019, the two city officials demanded bribe payments from the owner of a marketing company in Brownsville. Prosecutors claim that the business owner collected two separate $3,000 payments for marketing work from the City of Edcouch, and he allegedly made two kickback payments of $1,000 to the city officials.

The arrests come almost a year after federal authorities raided the Edcouch City Hall in October 2023. In that same operation, authorities also raided the city hall of the neighboring city of Elsa. Details of the raids remain unclear; however, local news outlets claimed the case was tied to 8-liner businesses in the area.

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.