Gulf Cartel members charged in Hidalgo kidnapping

HIDALGO — Two Gulf Cartel members were arrested and charged in connection with a kidnapping and an attempt to take the victim to Mexico by stuffing him in the trunk of a car.

Juan Perales Veloz, 35, and Alberto Ibarra, 27, went Friday evening before Hidalgo Magistrate Judge William C. Romo, who formally charged them and set their bonds. They were transferred to the Hidalgo County Jail.

Perales was charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. His bond was set at $75,000, but he also has an immigration detainer because he is in the country illegally.

Ibarra also was charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping, which carries the same sentence. He also was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance, a state jail felony punishable by a sentence of 180 days to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. His bond was set at $95,000.

The two are accused of planning the kidnapping of and luring a man who was rescued last Tuesday by authorities at the Hidalgo International Bridge, said police Capt. Robert Vela.

That day, an officer conducting southbound traffic inspections spotted a driver who seemed too young to have a license. When he checked the small, blue compact car, he heard thumping from inside the trunk of the car. Authorities rescued a man who had been handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded and put into the trunk of the car.

 Authorities arrested the driver, who turned out to be an underage juvenile, and sent him to a juvenile detention center. After an investigation, authorities arrested Perales and Ibarra; however they are still looking for three or four other men who are believed to be the ones who actually carried out the kidnapping, Vela said.

According to the police investigation, the men were under orders from their Gulf Cartel superiors in Reynosa to recover a 1,500-pound load of drugs that reportedly had been stolen.

Vela said that while this case seems similar to another recent kidnapping, the two are not related. He said the motive is very similar to Sunday’s kidnapping north of Elsa that led to the shooting of an Hidalgo County Sheriff’s deputy. In that case, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said the suspects had been hired by the Gulf Cartel to recover a load of stolen drugs.

In the Hidalgo case, the kidnapping victim had been acting as a middle man and had been tasked with getting the drug load from the river to a stash house, authorities said. According to the suspects, the kidnapping victim was believed to be responsible for losing the load.

Vela said Perales and Ibarra duped the victim into going with them to a meeting last Saturday, but that on the way, they went to get a taco at a gas station north of Edinburg. That was when a group of men who haven’t been identified grabbed the victim and took him away, Vela said. Perales and Ibarra are believed to have planned the kidnapping.

Ildefonso Ortiz covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at 956-683-4437.