Drug Smuggler Who Allegedly Planned to Sacrifice 5-Week-Old Jaguar Avoids Prison

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat 

A drug smuggler who allegedly planned to sacrifice a jaguar during a religious ritual avoided prison on Tuesday.

Hector Reyes, 39, of Mission shipped cocaine from South Texas to New Jersey. To protect his drug shipments, Reyes conducted religious rituals that involved animal sacrifice.

“Is there anything you want to say before I sentence you?” Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane asked Reyes on Tuesday morning.

“No, your honor,” Reyes said.

Hector Reyes left the federal courthouse in McAllen on Feb. 10, 2026.

Reyes was arrested during Operation Ice River, which targeted drug smugglers in Starr County.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested more than 30 people, including Ignacio “Nacho” Garza, 54, of Rio Grande City, who headed a drug trafficking organization with links to the Gulf Cartel.

Reyes recruited drivers for the organization and used FedEx to ship cocaine across the country, DEA Special Agent Patrick Zaruba said during a hearing in May 2023.

“He was also responsible for conducting these religious-type ceremonies,” Zaruba said, which involved animal sacrifice.

Smugglers believed the sacrifices would protect drug shipments from law enforcement.

“They would do these rituals, I guess, to give luck,” Zaruba said, and keep the DEA away.

In September 2022, when prosecutors secured an indictment against Reyes, federal agents knocked on his door.

His girlfriend, Liliana Resendez, 38, of Mission, said Reyes “had left the house in the middle of the night,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the case, “and was in a panic when he departed.”

Agents searched the house anyway.

They didn’t find Reyes, but agents stumbled across a monkey skull, a panther hide and signs of animal sacrifice.

An agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration described Operation Ice River in a criminal complaint.

The U.S. Marshals Service called Reyes to inform him about the indictment.

Reyes “stated he was in Miami, Florida,” according to the criminal complaint, “and would turn himself in.”

After that, he stopped returning phone calls.

The Marshals Service tracked Reyes to Monterrey, Mexico, where deputy marshals spent months conducting surveillance. Members of the Gulf Cartel noticed.

“Stand down while you still have time,” Hugo Armando Cortinas Salinas, who served as the plaza boss for Miguel Aleman, allegedly said in a message broadcast over Gulf Cartel radios, according to the criminal complaint.

His son, Hector Jr., recorded the broadcast and posted the video on Snapchat with the caption: “A message for those that are searching up there.”

About two weeks after his son posted the message, Reyes and Resendez traveled from Cancun to Monterrey. The Marshals Service obtained photos of them at the airport.

With assistance from the United States government, immigration officials in Mexico arrested Reyes in April 2023 and sent him back to South Texas.

Reyes pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge in 2024. As part of his plea, Reyes confessed to shipping about 15.4 pounds of cocaine to New Jersey. 

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop four other charges against him.

The indictment against Hector Reyes accused him of acquiring a 5-week-old jaguar “intended for sacrifice.”

Reyes also pleaded guilty to violating the federal Endangered Species Act.

In April 2021, about 18 months before he fled the country, Reyes acquired a 5-week-old jaguar cub.

The cub was “intended for sacrifice,” according to the indictment against him. Reyes, though, claimed he declawed the cub and planned to keep her as a pet.

Dressed in gray sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt, Reyes returned to court Tuesday morning for sentencing.

Attorney Jose Maria “Chema” Garza Jr., who represented Reyes, asked to speak with the judge and the prosecutor at the bench.

What they discussed remains sealed.

“Mr. Reyes, you’ve done some good things,” Crane, the federal judge, said after the bench conference. “Your lawyer’s spoken well of you.”

Guidelines published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission suggested 46 to 57 months in prison.

The government, however, had filed a sealed motion. Crane granted the motion and sentenced Reyes to 34 months — the time he’d already spent in jail.

“Good luck to you, sir,” Crane said. “You’re excused at this time.”

Mission, Texas

Source: Valley Central