"Ivan" for Borderland Beat
McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The South Texas brother of a former Gulf Cartel boss on Monday was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a cocaine ring that Department of Justice officials say spanned multiple states.
Lee Roy Villarreal, 39, of Rio Grande City, Texas, must serve 180 months followed by five years supervised release for his involvement in a large-scale cocaine distribution network, U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani announced.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen handed down the sentence Monday in Houston. The court found Villarreal ran a cocaine network for nearly five years during which time he and his associates distributed up to 450 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico and Panama to a number of distributors based in Texas, Georgia, Illinois and Indiana.
Villarreal is the brother of Michael Villarreal, AKA “Gringo Mike,” a former Gulf Cartel plaza boss who was killed in March 2013 by rival Gulf Cartel members, Justice officials said.
“Drug cartels like Gulf Cartel, AKA Cartel del Golfo (CDG,) flood our communities with drugs that cause death and destruction, but high-ranking CDG leaders like Villarreal are not immune from stiff punishments,” Hamdani said in a statement. “This prosecution dealt a tough blow to the CDG’s operations. Villarreal brought poison to our communities, and collaborative efforts with our partners brought him to justice.”
A federal jury in July 2019 found Villarreal guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. During the trial, Villarreal was accused of running drug trafficking operations on the U.S. side, in South Texas, on behalf of Gringo Mike and the Gulf Cartel.
Witnesses said Villarreal directed workers to import, stash and transport cocaine to various cities across the United States. He also was in charge of repatriating the proceeds from the drug sales back to Mexico via Gringo Mike and the Gulf Cartel.
At least one stash house in Mission, Texas, was used to store cocaine and drug proceeds, according to testimonies.
Villarreal testified he had no connection with drugs nor was involved with illegal activities with his brother. He said he operated a legitimate auto mechanic business.
So far, 12 other individuals have been convicted in relation to these charges.
The FBI led the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation, which was dubbed Operation La Hermandad. Officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigation, Border Patrol, Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, Starr County High Intensity Drug Task Force, and Mission Police also helped in the investigation.
“El Gringo
ReplyDeletewas the one making all that money for CDG.
When the Zetas first came around he was a Zeta
under Hummer. El lazcano liked Gringo very much
because how he took care of business and made
money for La Compania. When the Zetas split
from the Golfos comandante Gringo stayed with
the Golfs under M3. Word around Tamaulipas and
So. Texas always was that El Gringo was bigger
than what he wanted people to know. I've heard
this guy would cross shits load of weed and coke.
People from Roma to McAllen all said that 80% of
the drugs being crossed into the U.S. was El
Gringos. This guy supposedly had major contacts.
Mario Pelon envied him so much that he turned on
him. There was also rumors that he worked heavy
with one of chapos nephews. He was the that was
trying to stabilize the Gulf Cartel. At the end
nobody could stand that a poor Mexican-American
from the U.S. was running the show and all those
other so called comandantes could not even come
close to him in money or respect. That's why the
Gulf Cartel is such a mess right now, everyone
wants the top spot because they are not making
enough money for the #2 or #3 guys. There ain't
enough to go around cause they ain't pushing the
weight that they should be.“
That's a negative chief
DeleteThat was posted on the original posting of Gringos death on Borderlandbeat. Sounds credible
Delete"That's a negative chief"
DeleteYour a bellend chief,with a snide made up name
"80% of drugs been crossed into the USA were gringos" 🤣🤣🤣 no mames esa ni tu te la crees alucin
DeleteProbably means 80% of drugs crossed through texas
Delete6:18 that is more believable since CDG had the texas border crossing on lock
Delete5:59 y 6:18
DeleteDice que el 80% de la merca que movía el CDG la traficaba El Gringo Villarreal antes de que lo matará X20
I agree and disagree with your comment.
DeleteNo doubt that Mike Gringo was powerful and anyone that says no then........
Mike Gringo can be put next to Sr. M3 when it comes to moving drugs across the border now that is saying something. How about when Mike Gringo was leading the campaign against the Zetas of Mike Z40 in Nuevo Laredo in 2012. Yes Gringo was being supported by M-4, Mario Pelon X-20 and so on.. but Gringo was leading operations along with Juanito 98.
Something glaring on your comment is that what got Mike Gringo killed was.. Gringo killed El Metro 4.. Gringo got killed along with Rayo, Puma , anything that smelled Gringo Mike they where wiped out it was brutal this was covered by BB in 2013..
Mike Gringo believe it or not worked with CDG-Z in Zacatecas and Guanajuato so again anyone saying that Gringo was not important is really really wrong.
I would not say Gringo was a zetas member but did worked with zetas but that was a must if in the CDG-Z days
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DeleteGod people got so caught up in semantics here..which is weird be abuse you think since this is a spa ish / english blog they be more forgiving of translation or typos. I digress thougg...
DeleteIvan how was Gringo killed? In a balacera? It's crazy to me a boss would also be on the Frontline es with the sicarioa. I always picture them being as far removed from the violence as possible..but alot if most seem to be in the trenches as well.
Pero andava bien caliente "ahi" de narquito.
ReplyDeleteSOL video of CDN incursion Miguel Aleman CDN firing on a CDG monster chasing them ?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/ValorPorTamaulipasOficial/videos/601829068069984/
We've posted an article based on your comment. Thank you for your time.
DeleteNo problem man,just tryin to help lighten your load.Thanks for your work bro
DeleteSOL I can use a cup of coffee ☕ and some Conchita's. Thanks bro
DeleteThere's the El Bolillo bakery off of Airline here in Houston. They have some of the best Conchitas there. Good enough to help you gain weight. Lol. But I'll probably move up to Dallas here within the next few months. So, I'll for surely miss this bakery. Anyways thanks to everyone who's always down to help us here at BB. We couldn't do this without you guys.
DeleteSince you know about El Bolillio. You know about Taconazo or Laredo Taqueria on Washington/Patton?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSo what are you doing cheerleading and advertising. BB doesn’t not support cartels nor their propaganda. Go to Reddit for that.
DeleteIm agree 7:13
DeleteSounds like something a customer would say. Yes go to Reddit
DeleteFrom my understanding they were accusing Gringo Mike of being an undercover Zeta supporter, which was crazy because he was one of the main ones taking it to them. Alot of the inner conflicts or what not had to do with punk ass Gafe from my understanding. He was alwas doing things cowardly, trying to smut up people above him and setting them up, etc. in his bid to try to get the top spot. He was doing that for years. Caused alot of damage to CDG but although it took a whilthe finally got his wish. Those are things I've heard from a credible source, but who knows. Back to this story though, so Gringo Mike's brother was CDG correct?
ReplyDeleteEveryone is fighting about this guy so he's not that smart because he got caught.
ReplyDeleteSo breaking bad and better call saul is true then? Cartel operatives have a home in the u.s?
ReplyDelete