EXCLUSIVE: Mexican Authorities Arrest Alleged Fugitive Leader of South Texas Drug Ring

Authorities in Mexico arrested an elusive fugitive who was the alleged leader of a family-run drug smuggling operation that worked with various cartels which, since the early 2000s, established routes from Guatemala to the Texas border. The fugitive was hiding in a ritzy neighborhood in the border state of Nuevo Leon.

Gilberto Villarreal Arelis, the alleged leader of Los Piojos drug trafficking organization, managed to keep a low profile in the ritzy suburb of San Pedro until last week when detectives with the Nuevo Leon State Investigations Agency (AEI) along with Mexico’s National Guard and other federal forces arrested him. While he is not facing charges in Mexico, Villarreal Arelis has various pending warrants by the Western District of Texas on various drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

At the time of the arrest, Villarreal Arelis reportedly tried to escape, leading authorities on a high-speed chase that moved north of the Monterrey metropolitan area, almost to the border with Tamaulipas.

Villarreal Arelis, along with several of his brothers and relatives, allegedly ran a powerful drug trafficking organization known as Los Piojos based in Diaz Ordas and the McAllen-Mission area on the Texas side. The group known as Los Piojos worked with both the Gulf Cartel and then Los Zetas, moving large quantities of cocaine, information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas revealed. The group reportedly kept various stash houses in McAllen where they stored the cocaine before moving it to San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Florida.

Officials stated that Los Piojos used various companies to carry out real estate and land development projects throughout Texas as part of a large-scale money laundering operation. Additionally, federal prosecutors revealed that the group bought and maintained more than 50 quarter horses. As part of the major conspiracy case, authorities have convicted 14 individuals and various companies. Villarreal Arelis managed to evade capture for years.

It remains unclear when U.S. authorities will be able to carry out the extradition of Villarreal Arelis.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.