Border County Prosecutor in Texas Faces Federal Extortion Charges

Federal authorities arrested a Texas man 0n a series of charges including extortion, theft, and bribery. The man previously served as the county attorney for a county located on the Texas-Mexico border.

On Friday, agents with the FBI arrested former Starr County Attorney Victor Canales, Jr. After spending the weekend in jail, he is expected to go before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nidia Medrano on Monday morning.

According to a prepared statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, a federal grand jury handed down a sealed eight-count indictment against Canales on April 5. That indictment was unsealed on Friday after his arrest. The charges in the indictment include various counts of extortion, theft, and bribery.

Canales served as the Starr County Attorney from 2005 to 2022. In this role, he represented the county government in legal matters. He also was in charge of prosecuting misdemeanor cases, and would collect fees and fines for his office.

One of the allegations against Canales listed in court documents is that he would request payments of fees and fines in cash or money orders and then deposit those into his personal accounts instead of the county’s account.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the investigation that led to Canales’s arrest was tied to Operation Ice River — an ongoing federal investigation into drug trafficking in the region.

Local journalist Dave Hendricks reported that Operation Ice River is centered around a drug trafficking group headed by 53-year-old Ignacio “Nacho” Garza. His group is accused of moving marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines through Starr County. In October 2021, Operation Ice River led to the arrest of local Justice of the Peace Roel “Role” Valadez, and Melissa Garza, Nacho’s wife and the city secretary for Rio Grande City.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.