Cartel leader believed slain in Reynosa violence

REYNOSA — A top Gulf Cartel leader is believed to be among those killed during violence that broke out across the city Tuesday, U.S. officials said.

Mexican federal authorities shot Héctor Manuel Sauceda Gamboa during a firefight at his home on Reynosa's southwest side. Their raid on the alleged kingpin's residence triggered the fighting between military forces and cartel gunmen that left at least five dead across the city's southwest sector, officials said.

Authorities south of the border had not officially confirmed Sauceda's death as of late Tuesday night, but the slaying would be a significant victory in the ongoing war between Mexican President Felipe Calderón's administration and his country's entrenched drug cartels.

Sauceda, also known as "El Karis," is believed to be the head of Gulf Cartel operations in Reynosa and a high-ranking member of Los Zetas, the cartel's paramilitary wing made up largely of former military officers.

U.S. federal authorities believe he assumed control of the region sometime in November, after the arrest of previous leader Jaime González Durán.

"Everyone is a little worried here for tonight," one U.S. federal agent, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said late Tuesday. "They're waiting for the retaliation."

Before taking over the Reynosa plaza - which stretches from Rio Bravo to Miguel Alemán - Sauceda developed a long history with the Gulf Cartel. But he is only the latest in a string of since-deposed regional leaders.

He has previously been linked to cartel leadership in Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo and was one of 15 top cartel leaders indicted on conspiracy and drug trafficking charges in September by a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury.

Throughout the early years of this decade, his brother Gregorio "El Goyo" Sauceda Gamboa, controlled drug shipments through Reynosa and Matamoros under the direction of former cartel kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, according to reports from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

But by mid-2006, El Goyo's reported alcohol and drug addictions led to his ouster from the position. González, also known as "El Hummer," is believed to have been hand-picked by Cárdenas to replace him.

Known for violence, González aggressively expanded operations in Reynosa and as late as last year was believed to be marshalling Zeta reinforcements for possible confrontations with U.S. authorities, according to an FBI intelligence report obtained by The Monitor in October.

Investigators across the Rio Grande Valley have linked several kidnappings, home invasions and shootouts that occurred in the region last fall to González's alleged efforts to exert more control over U.S. smuggling routes.

And as Mexican federal authorities arrested him at a Reynosa stash house in November, he proved he wasn't willing to leave his post quietly.

Suspected cartel gunmen ambushed Mexican federal authorities trying to put González on a plane to Mexico City. During his arrest, federal police also uncovered the largest weapons cache seized in Mexico's history.

Recent intelligence showed that Héctor Sauceda had taken control of Reynosa in the months after González's arrest, U.S. federal authorities said. Since then, cartel-related violence in the Valley has largely tapered off.

His death, once confirmed, is likely to create a power vacuum and open a spot for a new leader.

González remains in a Mexican prison facing drug trafficking charges. He is also wanted in the United States on conspiracy and drug smuggling charges.

Cárdenas, who was extradited north of the border in 2006, remains in a U.S. detention facility awaiting a September trial in Houston.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.