Father-son duo led cartel operations, Mexican prosecutors say

By JEREMY ROEBUCK

The Monitor

Authorities have arrested a father and son believed to be top leaders in the Tamaulipas-based Gulf Cartel, Mexican officials announced Thursday.

Federal prosecutors allege Rogelio "El Rojo" Díaz Cuellar led the drug trafficking organization's operations in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas State and coordinated the movements of several loads of drugs into the United States.

His son - Rogelio "El Roger" Díaz Contreras - was also arrested for allegedly playing an active role in his father's cell, Mexico's attorney general's office said in a statement.

"The cell led by this drug trafficker was an important support for the (cartel)," the document states in Spanish. "The area under their control is often used as a refuge for the principal leaders of the group."

The men operated without pressure from government officials because they were protected by at least three levels of corrupt government officials, prosecutors said.

Using a group known as "The Hawks" they were also able to monitor the movements of military personnel and federal authorities dispatched to the area as part of Mexican President Felipe Calderón's crackdown on the nation's entrenched cartels.

Under that security, they allegedly carried out several attacks on journalists, including the kidnapping of the editor of the city's El Cinco newspaper.

Their arrest comes three months after Calderón began a nationwide effort to combat organized drug smuggling groups in his country.

In recent months, his administration has stepped up efforts against the Gulf Cartel and its paramilitary enforcement wing The Zetas, which control drug smuggling routes through Tamaulipas state and into the Rio Grande Valley.

U.S. law enforcement has also scored a number of recent victories against the cartel's members.

In January, a federal jury in McAllen convicted former Tamaulipas police officer Carlos Landín Martinez on several counts of conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering.

Landín is believed to have once been second-in-command of the cartel's operations in Reynosa. He remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals pending a sentencing hearing currently set for Tuesday.

The Gulf Cartel's alleged former leader - Osiel Cardenas Guillén -- also awaits trial in a Houston detention center, after Mexican authorities extradited him to face charges in the United States in January 2007.

He has been indicted on 17 counts of conspiracy, drug possession and trafficking, blackmail, money laundering and assault on federal officers. His trial is set to begin in Nov. 12 in Brownsville.