Authorities make arrest in alleged jailbreak plot

The Cameron County district attorney's office and FBI arrested a man June 27 who they say was plotting to free drug trafficker Ricardo Garcia-Heredia of Hidalgo County from the Brooks County Detention Facility.

Garcia-Heredia is under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and is awaiting sentencing for conspiracy to possess a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Antonio Castillo, 29, whom officials believe to be his brother, now faces charges of his own for allegedly attempting to assist in Garcia-Heredia's escape.

Castillo paid an undercover investigator nearly $300,000 as a partial payment for what was meant to be a negotiated $500,000 bribe, according to court documents. But the escape plan began to unravel June 17 when investigators with the district attorney's office got wind of the plot.

An investigator with that office went undercover as an officer with the U.S. Marshals Service in Brownsville and talked on the telephone with Castillo on June 17, the public record reflects.

The record further states the investigator met Castillo the following day at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Harlingen, where Castillo gave the undercover investigator a piece of paper with Garcia-Heredia's name on it. Castillo indicated to the undercover officer - by writing the amount in dust on his vehicle - that he was prepared to pay $500,000 for the jailbreak, according to the court documents.

The undercover officer drew a line through that amount, indicated that he would require $250,000 in advance and then later asked Castillo for $300,000, the record states.

Castillo talked again to the undercover investigator on June 26 and 27 and said he had secured $300,000, according to the court records. Of the remaining amount, Castillo planned to pay $100,000 after the escape and another $100,000 a month thereafter. The undercover officer told Castillo that he would deliver the "cargo" to the Days Inn near the B&M International Bridge, the court records state.

Officials report in the document that both men met on June 27 in the parking lot of the Cinemark 16 multiplex in Harlingen and that Castillo handed the undercover investigator three bags containing $290,900 and clothing for Garcia-Heredia.

Law enforcement units from the Cameron County Precinct 6 constable's office then executed a felony traffic stop and arrested Castillo, who now awaits trial.

U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio set his bond at $100,000. Castillo is being represented in the criminal matter by Mission lawyer Carlos A. Garcia.