The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas sent a team of hitmen from Mexico into the Texas border city of Laredo to kill a man who had allegedly stolen drugs from them. Court documents revealed that the top leadership of the cartel gave the order, and the hitmen were told to “leave no witnesses.”
CDN-Los Zetas is one of the six Mexican cartels recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State. While the criminal organization is based in Nuevo Laredo and has a strong presence in Laredo, Texas, local officials routinely claim that the city is safe.
The incident began in 2021 when a man known as Tico allegedly stole between 100 and 120 pounds of cocaine from CDN-Los Zetas and then trafficked additional loads through their territories without paying “piso” or a protection fee to the cartel. Court documents filed in the case revealed that Tico was living in Laredo and that the team of gunmen had been driving by his home to get familiar with the roads.
In September 2021, the number 2 leader of CDN-Los Zetas, Juan “Juanito” Cisneros Trevino, spoke with Noe “El Tocayo” Gonzalez Martinez, a top lieutenant for the criminal organization. In that conversation, Juanito ordered that CDN-Los Zetas recover the stolen drugs and kill Tico.
For his role in the case, Gonzalez Martinez received a life term plus an additional sentence of 60 months in prison. Gonzalez Martinez tried to fight the criminal charges against him but lost his trial in December 2023 after jurors deliberated for only one hour, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas revealed to Breitbart News Foundation. Breitbart Texas reported in December 2023 about the murder-for-hire trial against El Tocayo.
The Plan
Once he received the orders from Juanito, Gonzales Martinez recruited another individual who had previously worked with CDN-Los Zetas. He offered that man a payment of $40,000 USD, plus the cartel would forgive prior drug debts.
The man was to coordinate with a group of hitmen that the CDN sent from Mexico. The three hitmen were 60-year-old Juan Antonio Martinez Padilla, 34-year-old Gregorio Gonzalez Barragan, and 27-year-old Rodolfo Reyna Zapata. All three have been convicted and sentenced for their roles in the case. Some of them pleaded guilty in hopes of getting a reduced sentence.
The unnamed man that Gonzalez Martinez (Tocayo) spoke with, who was expected to assist the hitmen, was working with agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and Laredo Police as a cooperating source, court documents revealed. With the man’s help, authorities were able to learn about the plans to kidnap and murder Tico and began a sting operation. Agents recorded conversations between the informant and Tocayo, who had the informant meet him at a bus station in Laredo, Texas. Then they rode in the cartel boss’s truck to meet another man who provided them with three throwaway phones and then went to meet two of the hitmen. The two hitmen received instructions from Tocayo, who told them that the informant would provide them with weapons and a vehicle when the time came for the hit.
Agents also recorded conversations between the informant and the hitmen about what would happen with Tico. The gunmen had been told by cartel bosses to take him to Mexico or to kill him. Federal agents set up a sting where they set up a vehicle with weapons in the parking lot of a local sporting goods store and had the informant tell the men to get the gear for the hit. When the three men arrived to get the vehicle, federal agents used a local police SWAT team to arrest them.
Despite what local officials claim, the border city of Laredo has had similar cases in previous years where CDN-Loz Zetas have been able to carry out cross-border kidnappings, where the victims are never heard from again.
In April 2023, gunmen from CDN-Los Zetas kidnapped Erick Tadeo Ramirez out of his home in Laredo, Breitbart Texas reported. The gunmen took the victim across one of the ports of entry into Mexico without any interference from authorities, even though he tried to escape from his captors. The victim was reportedly never heard from again. In that case, Ramirez had allegedly bragged about stealing $50,000 from CDN-Los Zetas and claimed that he was safe because he was in Texas. However, soon after the call, a team of gunmen arrived at his house and took him.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
The Breitbart News Foundation is an independent non-profit. All content created by it is available for licensing without charge to any legitimate publisher with a large audience and that agrees to the licensing terms. For licensing information, please contact: [email protected]
The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas sent a team of hitmen from Mexico into the Texas border city of Laredo to kill a man who had allegedly stolen drugs from them. Court documents revealed that the top leadership of the cartel gave the order, and the hitmen were told to “leave no witnesses.”
CDN-Los Zetas is one of the six Mexican cartels recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State. While the criminal organization is based in Nuevo Laredo and has a strong presence in Laredo, Texas, local officials routinely claim that the city is safe.
The incident began in 2021 when a man known as Tico allegedly stole between 100 and 120 pounds of cocaine from CDN-Los Zetas and then trafficked additional loads through their territories without paying “piso” or a protection fee to the cartel. Court documents filed in the case revealed that Tico was living in Laredo and that the team of gunmen had been driving by his home to get familiar with the roads.
In September 2021, the number 2 leader of CDN-Los Zetas, Juan “Juanito” Cisneros Trevino, spoke with Noe “El Tocayo” Gonzalez Martinez, a top lieutenant for the criminal organization. In that conversation, Juanito ordered that CDN-Los Zetas recover the stolen drugs and kill Tico.
For his role in the case, Gonzalez Martinez received a life term plus an additional sentence of 60 months in prison. Gonzalez Martinez tried to fight the criminal charges against him but lost his trial in December 2023 after jurors deliberated for only one hour, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas revealed to Breitbart News Foundation. Breitbart Texas reported in December 2023 about the murder-for-hire trial against El Tocayo.
The Plan
Once he received the orders from Juanito, Gonzales Martinez recruited another individual who had previously worked with CDN-Los Zetas. He offered that man a payment of $40,000 USD, plus the cartel would forgive prior drug debts.
The man was to coordinate with a group of hitmen that the CDN sent from Mexico. The three hitmen were 60-year-old Juan Antonio Martinez Padilla, 34-year-old Gregorio Gonzalez Barragan, and 27-year-old Rodolfo Reyna Zapata. All three have been convicted and sentenced for their roles in the case. Some of them pleaded guilty in hopes of getting a reduced sentence.
The unnamed man that Gonzalez Martinez (Tocayo) spoke with, who was expected to assist the hitmen, was working with agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and Laredo Police as a cooperating source, court documents revealed. With the man’s help, authorities were able to learn about the plans to kidnap and murder Tico and began a sting operation. Agents recorded conversations between the informant and Tocayo, who had the informant meet him at a bus station in Laredo, Texas. Then they rode in the cartel boss’s truck to meet another man who provided them with three throwaway phones and then went to meet two of the hitmen. The two hitmen received instructions from Tocayo, who told them that the informant would provide them with weapons and a vehicle when the time came for the hit.
Agents also recorded conversations between the informant and the hitmen about what would happen with Tico. The gunmen had been told by cartel bosses to take him to Mexico or to kill him. Federal agents set up a sting where they set up a vehicle with weapons in the parking lot of a local sporting goods store and had the informant tell the men to get the gear for the hit. When the three men arrived to get the vehicle, federal agents used a local police SWAT team to arrest them.
Despite what local officials claim, the border city of Laredo has had similar cases in previous years where CDN-Loz Zetas have been able to carry out cross-border kidnappings, where the victims are never heard from again.
In April 2023, gunmen from CDN-Los Zetas kidnapped Erick Tadeo Ramirez out of his home in Laredo, Breitbart Texas reported. The gunmen took the victim across one of the ports of entry into Mexico without any interference from authorities, even though he tried to escape from his captors. The victim was reportedly never heard from again. In that case, Ramirez had allegedly bragged about stealing $50,000 from CDN-Los Zetas and claimed that he was safe because he was in Texas. However, soon after the call, a team of gunmen arrived at his house and took him.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
The Breitbart News Foundation is an independent non-profit. All content created by it is available for licensing without charge to any legitimate publisher with a large audience and that agrees to the licensing terms. For licensing information, please contact: [email protected]
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