Tomás Yarrington, ex-governor of the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, is wanted in Texas for drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering, but if he is extradited, Mexico will get him first on organized crime and money laundering charges
By Jason Buch
Houston Chronicle
April 10, 2017
Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba, the former governor of the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas who’s wanted in Texas on drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering charges, was arrested Sunday in Italy, according to Mexico’s attorney general.
Yarrington had been wanted by Interpol and was arrested on Mexican charges of organized crime and money laundering, according to Mexican authorities. Mexico is requesting his extradition.
Yarrington is under indictment in Brownsville, where authorities allege he laundered millions of dollars in bribe money from Mexico’s Gulf Cartel and its notorious spinoff, the Zetas. As part of the scheme, Yarrington and his associates laundered the bribes through real estate transactions across Texas, according to an indictment against him.
Last year, a former Tamaulipas state official and businessman sold 46 acres on San Antonio’s North Side as part of a settlement with the government. Prosecutors had alleged the land was purchased as part of the money laundering scheme. Yarrington has denied the allegations.
In 2012, federal agents arrested Antonio Peña Arguelles, a Laredo businessman who they alleged was an intermediary between Yarrington and the Zetas, at a Stone Oak-area house. Peña Arguelles pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy two years later and was released from jail.
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