MCALLEN, Texas—One of the leading figures of the Los Zetas cartel is facing federal drug charges after Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers arrested him near Falcon Lake following a boat chase.
Jose Manuel “Z-31 or El Borrado” Saldivar Farias, 27, and his assistant Osiel Hernandez Martinez, 26, are currently facing immigration charges as well as marijuana conspiracy charges, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed.
The two men went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Guillermo Garcia in the border city of Laredo, who ordered they be held without bond pending a detention hearing.
Last week, Saldivar and Hernandez had been riding a boat on Falcon Lake when a Quick Reactionary Force from Texas DPS and a National Guard Helicopter spotted them moving north, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed. The DPS group initially thought the men were illegal aliens and arrested them but were later able to confirm their true identity.
Saldivar is described as the regional commander for the Zetas in Zapata County and in northern region of Mexico for the states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, the information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S Attorney’s Office revealed.
In his role as the regional commander, Saldivar oversaw all the narcotics moving though his turf, which included several multi-ton shipments per week, officials said.
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