28 Gulf Cartel members found guilty of various charges

October 13, 2010 9:34 PM
THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Mexican authorities announced the conviction of 28 members of the Gulf Cartel as well as two teenagers who were found guilty through juvenile court.

The group, consisting of 27 men and one woman along with the teenagers, were arrested in Matamoros approximately two weeks ago and tried before a judge in the state of Veracruz, a press release from Mexico’s attorney general’s office (PGR) stated.

The Gulf Cartel members were found guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity, crimes against public health, possession of restricted weapons and possession of military ammunition and explosives, the release stated.

When the group was arrested by Mexican marines, authorities seized 55 assault rifles, 11 handguns, two rocket launchers, 21 grenades, 340 ammunition magazines, a large number of ammunition rounds, two trucks, $394,000 in U.S. currency and 560,000 pesos, the release said.

The men were taken to a federal prison in Xalapa, Veracruz, while the woman was taken to a women’s prison in Amatlan, Veracruz. She was identified as Maria Rosa Cuellar, also known as Maria Rosa Rivera.

The two teenagers were taken to a juvenile detention center in Matamoros.

The 27 men were identified as:

Juan Francisco MartÃ*nez Manzanares,

Santiago Garza Garza,

Luis Enrique GarcÃ*a Hernández,

Jorge Alberto Rivera Sánchez,

Adolfo Fuentes Uscanga,

Jorge Aaron Mar Gutiérrez,

Carlos Pérez Romero,

Eleazar Mares López,

Faustino Gerardo Cabrera RodrÃ*guez,

Carlos Daniel Estrada Arriola or Carlos Daniel Estrada Arreola,

José Rufino Hernández RodrÃ*guez,

Alan MatÃ*as Pruneda MartÃ*nez,

Leonel González Chávez,

OrbelÃ*n “El Pelónâ€