Hide Article Text (OCR)
BY ANGELES NEGRETE LARESTHE BROWNSVILLE HERALDMexican Department of National Defense officials confirmed Friday the arrest of seven alleged members of a drug-trafficking gang once known as the Gulf Cartel following a Thursday shootout in Ciudad Miguel Aleman with Mexican federal agents that left three people dead.The Gulf organization is believed to be one of Mexico’s top drug-smuggling operations. It was headed by Osiel Cardenas, who was recently arrested in Matamoros after another gunfight with soldiers. Federal officials think the cartel is based in Ciudad Miguel Aleman.“After the shooting, which lasted almost 30 minutes, the agency arrested seven people that participated directly in the aggression against the federal agents during a special operation in that location,” said Coronel Francisco Aguilar, a spokesman for the Mexican Department of National Defense, or SEDE-NA.“Three people died during the shootout. All of them were members of the Gulf Cartel. The people arrested are now in the custody of the Mexican attorney general’s office in Mexico City.”Officials said Jos6 Luis Moreno Garcia, AlbertoMelgarejo Vazquez, Jose Luis GalvAn, Nereo MejiaQuintana, Francisco Gonzalez Vazquez, Juan Fernando Barcenas and Daniel Valvidia Chino are recognized as members of the Gulf Cartel.According to SEDENA officials, the shooting took place around 2:15 p.m. infront of the Ciudad Miguel Aleman Civic Center. Miguel Aleman is a border town about two hours west of Brownsville, near Roma.Cardenas allegedly inherited a large portion of the Gulf organization after former leader Juan Garcia Abrego was arrested in 1996. Garcia is serving 11 life terms in the United States.Cardenas was arrested March 14 after a shootout with Mexican soldiers in Matamoros. He faces six counts of drug trafficking, organized crime, money laundering and weapons possession.Mexican special agents on Thursday confiscated threehand grenades, 358 packages of marijuana, one kilogram of cocaine, 31 semiautomatics weapons - including AK-47s and R-15s - along with several full magazines of ammunition inside a blue Dodge Ram with Texas license plates.“We found items used to wrap drugs and cut packages, 15 gas masks, three jackets with the Tamaulipas State Ministry logo (and) four camouflage uniforms, among other personal identifications,” Aguilar said.Federal authorities said the Gulf cartel has moved tons of marijuana and cocaine from northeastern Mexico into the United States. The FBI had posted a$2 million reward for Cardenas’ capture.Since Wednesday, drug-related violence has killed four people and left three wounded betweenMatamoros and Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo.On March 26, Nuevo Laredo police killed another gunman in a shootout just yards away from where the mayor was presiding over a flag-raising ceremony.On Wednesday, authorities discovered the body of Reynosa Traffic Police Chief Miguel Angel Chavez Cantu, who was shot twice in the head.^ AERO CALIFORNIA®BIG MEXICO SALE!Buy your tickets with or without reservationsby April 1 to any of our destinations
Newspaper Details
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville, Texas, US
Sat, Mar 29, 2003
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Benjamin S.
USA 06 Jan 2024
Other Publications Near Brownsville, Texas
Whalen Furniture News
Valley Star Monitor Herald
Brownsville Sentinel
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville Daily Herald
