An investigation involving multiple agencies has led to the sentencing of Noe Gonzalez-Martinez, known as Tocayo, a leader of the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN), for a series of crimes including murder-for-hire and kidnapping conspiracies. On March 26, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced the 41-year-old Gonzalez-Martinez to life plus an additional 60 months in federal prison. The charges relate to his involvement in orchestrating a scheme that brought three hitmen across the U.S.-Mexico border into Laredo.
“The Department of Justice is committed to preventing the cartels from ever gaining a foothold in America,” stated U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei from the Southern District of Texas. “This is, however, just the beginning. SDTX is pursuing every opportunity and every avenue to dismantle cartel operations on both sides of the border.”
Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remarked, “This case is a testament that the DEA is definite in its fight against these foreign terrorist drug trafficking organizations who illegally crossed into the United States for the sole purpose of kidnapping and murdering an American Citizen.”
ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Special Agent in Charge, Craig Larrabee, added, “The campaign of terror, drug-trafficking, and violence this man employed has no place on American soil.”
The federal jury convicted Gonzalez-Martinez on December 13, 2023. They found him guilty on various charges, including conspiracy to possess and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, murder-for-hire conspiracy, and conspiracy to kidnap, among others.
During trial proceedings, it was revealed that Gonzalez-Martinez along with other CDN members attempted a kidnapping scheme in Laredo between September 7 and September 13, 2021. They planned to abduct and return an alleged drug thief to Mexico or, failing that, execute him and recover the stolen property. Law enforcement successfully intercepted the plan.
Gonzalez-Martinez was apprehended on July 29, 2022, at the international port of entry in Laredo. He disputed responsibility for orchestrating the crime, yet the jury found him guilty. The investigation also unveiled use of cellphones to communicate with accomplices on obtaining firearms to complete the murder plot. The weapons included a .45 caliber pistol, a .357 magnum revolver, and two AR-15s.
The involved hitmen, Juan Antonio Martinez-Padilla, Gregorio Gonzalez-Barragan, and Rodolfo Reyna-Zapata, were sentenced to 240, 352, and 352 months in prison, respectively.
Gonzalez-Martinez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility. The case was prosecuted by former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jose Angel Moreno and Steven Chamberlin.
