Recently documents in the Texas Court have revealed that three members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) They deprived a US citizen of his freedom for which, according to official information, They asked for a ransom of almost half a million dollars.
This man was coordinated by none other than the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), about which no further information has been revealed. It is only known that he is identified as EQ, and that he was one of the confidential sources infiltrated into the CJNG.
You may be interested in: This is how the dollar is quoted at Banco Azteca today, Wednesday, November 27, 2024
EQ meets with elements of the CJNG
According to several documents obtained by the company “Milenio”, and which are property of the Court in the Southern District of Texas, they indicate on May 3, 2019, EQ contacted a DEA agent, identified like Marc de la Cerda, to let him know that He would meet with elements of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel with the aim of, “presumably,” carrying out a drug transaction.
After EQ met with the CJNG elements, It was agreed that they would meet again on May 4 of that same year (that is, one day later) in some apartments located in Winston Chase, Houston, Texas, which had a rather discreet appearance, since it was located behind a tree line with no houses nearby.
The DEA infiltrator, EQ, points out that when he arrived at the place agreed with the CNG he saw a man looking at him from a Tahoe truck: They were the cartel traffickers with whom he had agreed to meet.
THE CJNG kidnaps EQ in Texas
The vehicle that EQ managed to see in the distance was being driven by a Mexican who was later identified as Homero Gallegos, and who, at that point he asked EQ to get into the car to presumably close the deal on the drug transaction.
However, once on board the vehicle, EQ was subdued by two other men from the back seats. There he knew that they would kidnap him.
EQ was also subdued with an electric shock gun and hit on the head and back. Although he could not identify the people who kidnapped him, He did realize that he was taken to a safe house.
The infiltrator was tied hand and foot and remained that way for several days, in addition to being warned on several occasions that if his family did not pay his ransom he would be killed with a firearm.
The ransom amount amounted to more than $400 thousand dollars (that is, just over $8 million in current pesos). This in itself is an unprecedented fact, one that sets precedent that cartels are carrying out Mexican-style kidnappings in the United States.
We suggest: How often should you be dewormed and why?
They negotiate with the CJNG for EQ
Since last November 2023 A trial is taking place in the Texas Court that leaves its mark on those who have witnessed it.
“The use of electric shock to torture exemplifies the level of brutality associated with one of the most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world.”says federal fiscal Alamdar S. Hamdani.
This newspaper obtained the plea agreements of the three defendants, which reveal how the CJNG has managed to cross borders, with which its members risk being tried in the United States.
According to the statement made by the DEA agent, De la Cerda, who was in coordination with EQ, He found out about the infiltrator’s kidnapping after his brother called him scared on the phone to inform him that his brother was missing.
However, later he received a new call from the same brother: They had communicated from a telephone number in Mexico, and had news that was not positive at all.
“The man who called said that his brother had been kidnapped and that they had to pay 400 thousand dollars to free him (…) that they needed the money by noon the next day,” shared.
Agent De la Cerda shared that once the DEA was notified and they began to plan how they would free EQ. In this way, they gave instructions to the infiltrator’s brothers so that, “in appearance,” they would follow what was ordered by the cartel. to release EQ They gave them wads of money with the agreed amount and took photos of the dollars wrapped in plastic.
We know the outcome: the DEA set up an operation on Fondren Road, Houston, where EQ’s brothers were summoned to deliver the money.
In a joint action Houston police officers They managed to arrest the driver of a white Chevrolet Malibu truck, who was identified as Pedro Luis Guerra, of Mexican nationality.
EQ’s brother finally received a call in which He was notified that the infiltrator had been successfully released at the “La Michoacana” restaurant, and Agent De la Cerda confirmed that the infiltrator was indeed in the parking lot of that place.
The investigations surrounding this kidnapping continue in the court of the Southern District of Texas, and to date The real identity of the DEA infiltrator in the CJNG is unknown beyond the data revealed by the documents recovered by “Milenio.”
LEE: What is diclofenac used for and when to take it?
However, and finally, it is known that this attack had two objectives: one was simply revenge, and another so that this federal official could not testify against Manuel García, known for being a Mexican drug laboratory operator in the United States. He was arrested by the anti-drug police in that same 2020.
* * * Stay up to date with the news, join our WhatsApp channel * * *
MS