Cartel-Connected Fuel Smuggler First Exposed by Breitbart News Foundation Arrested in Texas

Federal authorities arrested a cartel-connected fuel smuggler who had allegedly been moving large quantities of stolen fuel from Texas into Mexico with the help of corrupt government officials. Breitbart News Foundation first reported on Julio Rodolfo Gonzalez’s alleged operation in November 2025 in an exclusive report that exposed the tactics he was reportedly using to move illegal fuel across the border.

Last week, federal authorities arrested Gonzalez at his home in Eagle Pass, Texas, on a warrant out of Dallas, where he is wanted on federal money laundering charges. This week, Gonzalez appeared before U.S. Magistrate Joseph Cordova in Del Rio, who informed him of the charges. The judge ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to transfer him to the Northern District of Texas so he can face the pending charges in Dallas.

The documents in Dallas remain sealed, a common practice in federal court for large-scale conspiracy cases when not all parties have been arrested. Once Gonzalez goes before a judge in Dallas, redacted documents from his case are expected to be unsealed.

Breitbart News Foundation first reported on Gonzalez in November, outlining a new tactic where his drivers would add makeshift drums inside the cabin of a tractor-trailer. The move would allow them to move a smaller quantity of fuel; however, because the trucks were not hauling a trailer, they could cross the border more easily with help from Mexican authorities. This move allowed the drivers to make several trips per day, moving fuel to a storage depot in Piedras Negras before it was moved further into Mexico.

Local news reports describe Gonzalez as an upstanding businessman who operated a series of transportation companies on both sides of the border. Law enforcement sources told Breitbart Texas that in Mexico, Gonzalez had protection from high-level federal officials and a close relationship with Jorge Miguel “El Hummer” Barajas, a founding member of a special state police group in Coahuila known as Los GATES. Gonzalez has been the topic of several stories by Breitbart News Foundation exposing him and his wife, Sonia Villarreal, the current Undersecretary of Government in Coahuila, over cartel connections, corruption, human rights abuses, as well as their visa revocation by the U.S. government.