A leading figure with the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas is facing a possible sentence of life in prison for his role in planning and ordering the kidnapping and murder of people in Texas. For the kidnappings, the cartel had sent hitmen from Mexico into Laredo, Texas, and provided the gunmen with weapons.
This week, federal jurors in Texas heard testimony and evidence about how Noe “El Tocayo” Gonzalez Martinez was a leader with the CDN-Los Zetas. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas told the jury that Gonzalez planned the kidnapping and murder of individuals in Texas on behalf of the cartel. According to information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, after just one hour of deliberation, jurors convicted El Tocayo on the charges of murder for hire, murder for hire conspiracy, kidnapping, kidnapping conspiracy, drug trafficking, and weapons charges. He remains behind bars awaiting sentencing in March.
According to federal prosecutors, between September 7 and September 13, 2021, El Tocayo and several CDN-Los Zetas gunmen crossed into Texas to plan the kidnapping and killing of a man who had allegedly stolen drugs from the cartel. Part of the plan involved not only kidnapping the man but also recovering stolen drugs and cash that he allegedly kept at a home in Laredo.
On September 13, a group of cartel gunmen, under orders of El Tocayo, went to a house where they had a weapons stash that included several handguns and rifles. In a series of operations, authorities were able to arrest three gunmen identified as 58-year-old Juan Antonio Martinez-Padilla aka Juan Antonio Martinez-Lopez or Otoniel Martinez-Padilla; 33-year-old Gregorio Gonzalez-Barragan; and 25-year-old Rodolfo Reyna-Zapata. All three men are from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and had crossed into Texas for the cartel operation. The three gunmen previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the crime and are awaiting sentencing.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, the CDN-Los Zetas has a history of carrying out similar kidnappings in Laredo, where they take their victims into Mexico — never to be heard from again. In April 2023, a team of gunmen kidnapped a man identified in court documents as Erick Tadeo Ramirez out of a house in Laredo. The gunmen transported the victim over an international bridge without any interference from authorities. The victim had reportedly bragged about stealing $50,000 from the cartel.
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.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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