C.D.G. taking control of customs

Posted by LeChef for Borderland Beat by Omar Sánchez de Tagle for 24 HrsEl Cuate,

"El Cuate" of CDG is named as responsible

The customs situation in Tamaulipas, has worried the authorities of the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the State Government.  Since last September there are indications that the Gulf Cartel controls the passage of legal and illegal goods, primarily on the bridges of Matamoros.

According to federal investigations, this cartel has diversified its business and not only continues trafficking drugs, kidnapping and extorting merchants and businessmen in the region. Now its leaders have found in Tamaulipas customs  a new modus operandi to extort and control much of the merchandise crossing.

The investigations of the PGR are in addition to those of the US authorities, who also detected that the members of the Gulf Cartel have managed to corrupt the officials of the U.S., while operating extortions in customs.

One of those responsible of this modality and who has gain control of customs officials,  is Carlos

Martínez alias El Cuate, whom the authorities of the DEA have identified as the son-in-law of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, founder of the Gulf Cartel.

El Cuate, is the one who is in charge of extorting the customs agents of Tamaulipas, mainly they indicate him, as the one that controls one of the four most important bridges of Matamoros, it is the bridge known as Los Indios.

It is through this point that the organization, in which he is a leader,  forces employers to pay him fees when they cross merchandise ranging from electronic devices, clothing, stolen fuel, cars and, of course, for the transfer of drugs.

It is also known, from the information that the DEA  provided, that among the main operators is  El Cuate are Rigoberto Brown, nephew of Cárdenas Guillén and who has an arrest warrant in the United States, in addition to Rigoberto Castorena Cantú , his brother-in-law.

In the open investigation files,  it is explained that to operate in the customs, the son-in-law of Osiel Cárdenas has managed to create an important group of traffickers  that manage to mask  themselves as businessmen and even politicians of the region.

Of these characters, federal authorities are already investigating names such as Luis Biasi, Jesus Jiraudini, alias El Chuy, and his nephew Oscar Jiraudini, the latter identified as the one in charge of controlling all the bridges from Reynosa to Matamoros, and it is known that he works under the orders of the sister of Osiel Cárdenas.

The investigations of the PGR began after they received various complaints from employers who reported that the crossing of any merchandise, container or order has a fee of $ 300, which is paid to organized crime.

Three hundred dollars that for months has been paid as an extortion fee by every legal importer for each crossing or request made. These investigations have been integrated for at least six months; if not concluded, the result will be increased extortion and violence in the customs, as other groups began to see the business as a means to diversification.