Wife of Mexican Cartel Boss Busted with $800K Cash in Texas Home

The wife of a regional boss of the Gulf Cartel kept more than $800,000 hidden inside her Texas house when federal authorities arrived. The woman and her sister are facing money laundering charges while the husband appears to still be on the run, even though authorities spotted him prior to the raid.

This week, both Jessenia Flores-Salinas and Julia Judith Florez-Salinas went before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker who ordered they both be held without bond until their trial date. Both women are facing one count of money laundering conspiracy. Jessenia Flores Salinas is the wife of Hugo Armando  “La Cabra” Cortinas Salinas, a regional commander with the Gulf Cartel who is based out of Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, and controls the smuggling corridors into Starr County, Texas.

The case against the Flores Salinas’ sisters began in October when federal authorities stopped a woman named Alyssa Vera who was trying to cross into Mexico with $9,230 in cash, a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration revealed. During questioning, Vera revealed she smuggled approximately $50,000 for Flores-Salinas that she believed to be from human smuggling.

Authorities set up a surveillance operation at Flores-Salinas home in Roma, Texas, which is near the busiest human smuggling corridors used by the Gulf Cartel. During the surveillance operation, they spotted a man matching the description of Cortinas-Salinas at the residence and Jessenia Flores-Salinas arrive at the house with a teen male in a white Kia SUV with Mexican plates.

When the woman left the residence, authorities pulled over her vehicle for questioning. They also arrived at the house and got Jesenia’s sister to give them permission to search the house. Once inside, they found $809,980 in cash. The money was hidden in shoe boxes in her closet and in the master bedroom.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected]. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].