José Miguel Maya Zulaica, Gulf Cartel Trafficker Is Arrested

José Miguel Maya Zulaica is accused by the US of being part of a group that trafficked drugs related to the Gulf Cartel

The detainee is the son of businessman Miguel Maya Romero, owner of construction and real estate companies in San Luis Potosí.

José Miguel Maya Zulaica, son of a businessman from San Luis Potosí, was arrested in Rome, Italy, accused by the United States of being part of a group that trafficked cocaine and heroin, and that could be connected to the Gulf Cartel.

Identified with the aliases of “Mickey” or “El Bebé”, the detainee is the son of businessman Miguel Maya Romero, owner of construction, real estate and other businesses in San Luis Potosí.

According to Italian media, Maya Zulaica, 35, was arrested in Rome following an arrest warrant issued on March 20, 2024 by the District Court for Western Texas in San Antonio.

Maya is subject to extradition proceedings requested by the United States to face a cocaine trafficking charge.

The case began in February 2023, when the FBI seized 29 kilos of cocaine in a tractor-trailer driven by John Bellard, who had multiple messages on his phone with Mario Zulaica, a resident of Laredo, Texas, who is Maya Zulaica’s maternal uncle.

The FBI began tracking Mario Zulaica, who was arrested in July 2023 near Houston, when he was driving an International Prostar tractor-trailer. According to the FBI, the subject had taken over transporting the drugs after Bellard’s arrest.

Zulaica had $263,000 in cash in sealed bags, four cell phones, and a loaded Czech-made Rami 9mm pistol.

The FBI had access to Zulaica’s cell phones, which contained WhatsApp messages with his nephew, detailing his activities and tactics to connect with his operators in Texas.

In those messages, Maya Zulaica sent his uncle images of Gulf Cartel hitmen he said were his associates, and there was talk of setting up a methamphetamine lab in Houston, according to Mario Zulaica’s first detention hearing in a federal court in Houston on March 28, 2024.

Before appearing in federal court, Mario Zulaica had been on trial for money laundering in a local court in Chambers County, where he was arrested in 2023.

With that evidence, the Justice Department charged the Zulaicas and seven others with eight counts of cocaine and heroin trafficking since at least February 2022, although José Miguel Maya was only charged with one of the charges.

The grand jury indictment against Maya Zulaica was under seal until December 5, when the prosecution asked to release it after his arrest in Rome. The other defendants are René Velázquez, Michael Fuentes, Reynaldo Sánchez, Richard Valadez, René Rivera, René González, and George Rivera. All of them are under trial in the San Antonio court, have pleaded not guilty, and Judge Orlando García set April 17 as the date to file a plea deal or take the matter to trial.

Source: La Opinión