Alleged cartel hit man on trial in US border city.
The Associated Press
While authorities have indicted dozens of alleged cartel operatives along the U.S. border, most cases have ended with plea agreements before any testimony that would offer details or confirm suspicions about the cross-border operations that have turned U.S.-Mexico border communities into drug battlegrounds.
But Gerardo Castillo Chavez - indicted in 2008 under the assumed name "Armando Garcia" and known as "Cachetes," or "cheeks" in Spanish for the chubby jowls he sported in early photos before his incarceration - took his case to trial, pleading not guilty and delighting border law enforcement officials who want the operations exposed.
The 15 others indicted with Castillo reached plea deals to avoid going to trial. All were accused of being members of the Gulf Cartel, which set up operations in Laredo and began battling in 2001 with rival Los Chapos for control of the lucrative transportation route that cuts from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, through San Antonio, Dallas and into the Midwest.
The Associated Press
Laredo, Texas -- The cherub- faced 23-year-old nicknamed "Cheeks" on trial in this Texas-Mexico border city was a midlevel thug working for drug cartel hit squads, authorities say, but the rare public airing of charges has offered a glimpse into the Mexican Gulf Cartel's U.S. operations.
While authorities have indicted dozens of alleged cartel operatives along the U.S. border, most cases have ended with plea agreements before any testimony that would offer details or confirm suspicions about the cross-border operations that have turned U.S.-Mexico border communities into drug battlegrounds.
But Gerardo Castillo Chavez - indicted in 2008 under the assumed name "Armando Garcia" and known as "Cachetes," or "cheeks" in Spanish for the chubby jowls he sported in early photos before his incarceration - took his case to trial, pleading not guilty and delighting border law enforcement officials who want the operations exposed.
The 15 others indicted with Castillo reached plea deals to avoid going to trial. All were accused of being members of the Gulf Cartel, which set up operations in Laredo and began battling in 2001 with rival Los Chapos for control of the lucrative transportation route that cuts from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, through San Antonio, Dallas and into the Midwest.
