Gang used walkie-talkies, vehicle caravans to move cocaine in South Texas
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A year-long investigation of alleged narcotics stash houses in Brownsville, Texas, has resulted in the arrest of two men and the seizure of 54 pounds of cocaine.
Federal court records show Homeland Security Investigations agents observed vehicles frequenting homes in Brownsville where they believed illegal drugs smuggled from Mexico were stored, then transported in caravan to nearby Hidalgo County, Texas.
The investigation stemmed from a Nov. 28, 2023, crash involving a Ford F-150 truck that attempted to elude Hidalgo County Sheriff's deputies after a traffic stop. Deputies and agents arrested a man and seized 87 pounds of cocaine from the truck. They recovered a cellphone with photos and text alluding to multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine being picked up from different stash houses in Brownsville, which borders Matamoros, Mexico.
Homeland Security Investigations and local law enforcement spent nearly a year tracking down the movement of vehicles from Cameron County to Hidalgo County by a group that drove two to three vehicles in tandem in Brownsville, San Benito and Mercedes. Court records show law enforcement linked the drivers – who communicated with each other via walkie-talkies during their runs – to a drug trafficking organization they did not name in public documents.
Last Wednesday, the agents finally moved in on a three-vehicle caravan departing Brownsville. One of the vehicles exited a highway while Cameron County Sheriff's deputies stopped a Jeep Cherokee and tracked a Chevrolet Silverado following closely.
The driver of the Cherokee jumped out of the vehicle and eluded arrest leaving behind the 54 pounds of cocaine; the two occupants of the Silverado, Jorge Gonzalez Caballero and Abelardo Galindo were arrested on the scene, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed Nov. 8, 2024, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
In an interview with investigators, Galindo allegedly said Gonzalez asked him to go with him to Brownsville and used a walkie-talkie to tell someone in Spanish, "Todo limpio" (All clear). Galindo allegedly told investigators he knows Gonzalez "is closely associated with narcotics traffickers," the complaint states.
When investigators asked Galindo what he thought was in the Jeep Cherokee he and Gonzalez were following, Galindo allegedly said, "Probably drugs," records show.
Both men were arrested and are facing charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
