Mexican police have announced the arrest of a top lieutenant of the violent Metros faction of the Gulf drug cartel, implicated in a series of attacks on police and military personnel.
Top Lieutenant of Gulf Drug Cartel Metros Faction Arrested in Mexico
The suspect, Hugo Salinas Cortinas, also known as “La Cabra” (The Goat), was arrested last Friday. Police found two guns and 600 pills of what appeared to be fentanyl in his possession. Salinas Cortinas is believed to have been responsible for drug and migrant smuggling across a stretch of the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River. He allegedly operated in the towns of Camargo and Miguel Aleman, across the border from the Texas towns of Rio Grande City and Roma.
The arrest of Salinas Cortinas comes just weeks after the brother of Miguel Villarreal, aka “Gringo Mike,” a former Gulf Cartel plaza boss, was sentenced in Houston to 180 months in prison for his role in distributing cocaine. The Gulf cartel, based in the city of Matamoros, has been losing strength in recent years as rivals and internal factions fight for control of drug-trafficking routes into the U.S. along the border.
The cartel has splintered into warring factions following the arrest and extradition of some of its top leaders over the past decade
According to local media reports, in 2021, police arrested a woman identified as Salinas Cortinas’ wife in Roma, Texas. She was found with over $800,000 hidden in shoeboxes and backpacks in her home. The Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel was allegedly responsible for the recent kidnapping of four Americans and the deaths of two of them.
The arrest of Salinas Cortinas is a significant blow to the Gulf cartel and will likely impact their operations in the area. The delay in announcing his arrest is yet to be explained by the police or the Mexican Army.
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