McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A Mexican cartel leader has been sentenced to U.S. federal prison for a murder-for-hire scheme in which prosecutors say he brought sicarios, or hit men, across the border into Laredo, Texas.
Noe Gonzalez-Martinez, 41, aka “Tocayo,” a leader and manager of the Cartel Del Noreste, has been ordered to serve the rest of his life plus 60 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos handed the sentence after a federal jury convicted Gonzalez-Martinez in December 2023 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, murder-for-hire conspiracy, murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking-related crime and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.
“Drug trafficking and violence go hand-in-hand, and this is particularly true in the case of cartels, as this case shows,” Ganjei said. “Through the conviction of Mr. Gonzalez-Martinez, the Southern District of Texas (SDTX) has dealt a major blow to the CDN cartel. This is, however, just the beginning. SDTX is pursuing every opportunity and every avenue to dismantle cartel operations on both sides of the border. Stay tuned.”
During the trial, testimony linked Gonzalez-Martinez and several other Cartel Del Noreste members who officials say traveled from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, across the border into Laredo, Texas. Officials say in Laredo, he helped to recruit, plan and coordinate the kidnapping and murder of an individual the cartel believed had stolen from them.
Testimony in court said three sicarios were to kidnap the suspected drug thief and return him to Mexico for cartel members to make an example of him. If they were unable to do so, they were to kill him and return the stolen property to the cartel.
The three so-called sicarios — Juan Antonio Martinez-Padilla, aka Juan Antonio Martinez-Lopez and Otoniel Martinez-Padilla, 60; Gregorio Gonzalez-Barragan, 34; and Rodolfo Reyna-Zapata, 27, all from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, previously received sentences of 20 years, 29 years, and 29 years, respectively.
Gonzalez-Martinez was arrested on July 29, 2022, while entering Laredo at a port of entry.
“This brazen scheme planned out by CDN is a direct threat to the safety and stability of South Texas. The campaign of terror, drug-trafficking, and violence this man employed has no place on American soil,” said ICE-Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee.
Said DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux: “This case is a testament that the DEA is definite in its fight against these foreign terrorist drug trafficking organizations who illegally crossed into the United States for the sole purpose of kidnapping and murdering an American citizen. We will continue to bring to justice anyone thinking about ripping peace out of our American neighborhoods and communities.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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