Two hours after bragging over the phone to an unknown woman about stealing $50,000 from a Mexican cartel, a Texas man was kidnapped by a group of armed men and taken over the border. He remains missing.
Texas man goes missing after bragging he stole $50,000 from Mexican cartel
During a house party, witnesses say they overheard Erik Tadeo Ramirez, an American man from Texas, bragging during a phone call to an unknown woman that he had stolen $50,000 from the Cartel del Noreste.
The alleged conversation occurred in Laredo, a town close to the Mexican border, at about 11 PM on March 23, according to an affidavit reviewed by the Laredo Morning Times.
Less than two hours later, around 12:45 AM on March 24, a group of two or three masked men armed with guns arrived at the Laredo house in a blue Dodge pickup. They assaulted Ramirez and forced him into the car, the FBI said, Yahoo News reported.
It was hours later that Ramirez’s girlfriend and sister called the police to report the kidnapping.
According to witnesses, Ramirez allegedly told the woman on the phone that he was in Laredo and that “he was not in danger or afraid of the unknown female because he was in the United States.”
Victim’s failed escape captured on border security cameras
According to court documents, after storming the house and kidnapping Ramirez, the men drove to the port of entry and crossed the border into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Vice reported.
“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,” the court documents allege.
US authorities make arrest, but 3 men still at large and victim missing
US authorities checking surveillance footage determined that the vehicle used in the kidnapping of Ramirez was registered to the mother of Jonathan Cavriales.
Authorities learned the car had been parked outside of Cavriales’s grandmother’s house in Nuevo Laredo, which is over the border in Mexico, on the morning of March 24, where he is believed to have stayed overnight.
On March 27, US Customs and Border Protection officers detained Cavriales after he crossed into the US in the same blue Dodge pick-up truck used to kidnap Ramirez, official documents show.
In a post-arrest interview, Cavriales allegedly admitted to driving the vehicle into Mexico with the kidnap victim and three other people. He also said he was aware Ramirez had stolen $50,000 from the cartel, according to the affidavit.
Cavriales was held without bail and has been charged with kidnapping.
The three other men involved in the kidnapping remain at large, and Ramirez is still missing.
