A truck burns on a street in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Urista)
There are times one should keep their mouth shut. A Texas man named Erik Tadeo Ramirez decided it was a good idea to boast that he had stolen $50,000 from a Mexican drug cartel. Less than two hours later, Ramirez was kidnapped by a group of armed men from a house in southern Texas and taken to Mexico.
According to the FBI, Ramirez is still missing.
Witnesses overheard Ramirez bragging on a phone call to an unknown woman about stealing money from the Cartel del Noreste while he was at a house party in Laredo, Texas, on March 23, according to an affidavit reviewed by the Laredo Morning Times.
The Cartel Del Noreste is considered one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations. It is an offshoot of the Los Zetas cartel.
Just after midnight on March 24, two or three masked men arrived at the party in a blue Dodge pick-up truck, grabbed and assaulted Ramirez. They also forced him into the truck, the FBI said.
About an hour later, the truck crossed into Mexico. Video footage shows a man with a bloodied face trying to flee the vehicle while it was still in motion. He was pulled back inside the car, according to the affidavit.
“The (security cameras) video recording showed a male with blood on his face open the front passenger door of the blue Dodge Ram four-door pick-up truck in distress while the blue Dodge Ram four-door pick-up truck was in motion. Officers at the bridge stated the male was attempting to exit the blue Dodge Ram four-door pick-up truck and was pulled back into the blue Dodge Ram four-door pick-up truck by force,” court documents say.
Ramírez’s girlfriend and sister called the police to report the kidnapping, Vice reported.
The truck was registered to the mother of Jonathan Cavriales, and he was arrested on March 27 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after he crossed into the U.S. in the same Dodge pick-up truck. He was charged with kidnapping.
Cavriales admitted that he drove the vehicle into Mexico on March 24 with Ramirez and three other people, the Morning Times reported.
The rest of the men involved in the kidnapping remain at large, Business Insider reported.
Photo: A truck burns on a street in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Urista)
