Notorious cartel leader's son-in-law pleads guilty in U.S. to scheme that used violence to fix prices at border
The son-in-law of a Mexican drug lord pleaded guilty this week to a scheme that used violence and threats to fix prices and control the transnational used-car market at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Carlos Favian Martinez, son-in-law to former Gulf Cartel drug lord, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, entered a guilty plea before a federal court in Houston to charges including conspiracy to fix prices, monopolizing, interfering with commerce by extortion and money laundering. Nine others were also indicted in November 2022 for their participation.
Prosecutors alleged the 11-year scheme started in 2011 and involved fixing prices of forwarding agency services operating in Los Indios, Texas, about 20 miles northwest of Brownsville. The port of entry is used by thousands of migrants every year who buy used vehicles in the U.S. and drive them back to Central America through the U.S.-Mexico border.
The indictment and court testimony highlighted beatings, kidnappings and fatal shootings that were part of the conspiracy between the defendants who used brutal force against several people who charged less for their services or who were noncompliant with the extortion tax.
Martinez's relationship to Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was discussed during a detention hearing held in July 2023 when a federal agent said Martinez spoke of his relationships across the border in Matamoros and Reynosa during a kidnapping. The agent said Martinez married the daughter of the drug lord, Guillén, a 57-year-old native of the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, who started a violent brand of cartel violence through the formation of the Zetas.
On Thursday, Martinez entered a guilty plea as first reported by local media. The plea agreement outlined an 11-year imprisonment term, though a sentencing hearing is scheduled in May.
"After two years of litigation we were able to arrive at a mutual agreement that calls for a sentence of eleven years," Kent A. Schaffer, an attorney representing Martinez, said in a statement provided to The Associated Press. "Mr. Martinez has been incarcerated since his arrest over two years ago and sees this resolution as one that will get him back home as soon as possible."
Cartel leader dubbed "Friend Killer"
Martinez's father-in-law was recently sent back to Mexico after serving a portion of his sentence in the U.S.
"The successful removal of Osiel Cardenas, a notorious international fugitive, underscores our unwavering commitment to public safety and justice," said Enforcement and Removal Operations Chicago Field Office Director Samuel Olson in a statement.
The former drug lord is facing drug, organized crime and money-laundering charges in Mexico. Nicknamed "El Mata Amigos" ("Friend Killer"), he recruited former Mexican special forces soldiers to form his personal guard. The former head of the Gulf cartel was known for his brutality. He created the most bloodthirsty gang of hitmen Mexico has ever known, the Zetas, which routinely slaughtered migrants and innocent people.
After his arrest in the northeast border state of Tamaulipas, he was extradited in 2007 to the United States, where he was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $50 million.
At that time, the Justice Department alleged that Cardenas Guillen threatened to kill a Texas sheriff's deputy who was working as an undercover ICE agent because he refused to deliver almost 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.
