The fate of a Texas man remains unknown after a team of cartel gunmen took him out of a house in Laredo, Texas, and crossed him into the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. The victim reportedly bragged about stealing $50,000 from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas.
The kidnapping took place on March 24 shortly after midnight when a team of three hooded gunmen stormed a house in the 3400 block of Queretaro Street in Laredo. According to court documents filed in federal court, the gunmen took a victim named of Erick Tadeo Ramirez at gunpoint and placed him inside a blue four-door Dodge Ram pickup. The gunmen drove straight to one of the international ports of entry and ran through the barriers and forced their way into Mexico. The victim tried to climb out of the truck but federal authorities at the bridge were unable to do anything to stop the gunmen from taking him into Mexico.
Hours later, the victim’s sister and girlfriend called the police to report him missing. The next day, the FBI went to the house where the kidnapping took place and spoke with two witnesses who confirmed the kidnapping. The witnesses claimed to have heard the victim arguing with a woman on the phone over him stealing $50,000 from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. The victim claimed that he wasn’t afraid because he was in Texas. Less than two hours later, the gunmen stormed the house.
Authorities identified Jonathan Cavriales as one of the alleged kidnappers through the vehicle that the gunmen used to cross the victim into Mexico. On March 27, Cavriales tried to cross back into Texas but federal authorities arrested him. During an interview, he reportedly said he drove the vehicle and with three other gunmen kidnapped Ramirez. Court documents say the man reported he “was aware that the victim had stolen approximately $50,000 from Cartel Del Noreste.”
Earlier this week, Cavriales went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga who denied him bond on the charge of kidnapping.
The victim has not been found and the other suspected gunmen remain at large.
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.
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