Cartel figure detained as officials recover drugs, guns and 7 tigers
Authorities said they seized unidentified narcotics, cash, 10 guns, 11 vehicles, six motorcycles — and seven tigers.
Updated on: May 11, 2026 / 1:57 PM EDT / CBS News
The leader of a group linked to a notorious cartel that operates near the U.S. border has been detained in Mexico, officials announced Monday. Authorities said they recovered weapons, drugs, cash and seven tigers during the arrest.
José Antonio Cortes Huerta, 39, the leader of a cell affiliated with the Northeast Cartel, was arrested in Nuevo León, stemming from an investigation following the seizure of a boat in Tamaulipas, security minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a social media post . A woman, identified as 41-year-old Rosario Flores Alemán, was also detained.
Some Mexican drug cartels are known to house exotic cats as symbols of power and, occasionally, to dispose of their enemies. According to a 2023 U.S. indictment , some victims of a Sinaloa cartel faction were "fed dead or alive to tigers."
Officials said the seized items are linked to Roberto Blanco Cantu who is known as "El Señor de los Buques" ("The Lord of the Ships"). Cantu, a majority shareholder of the company Mefra Fletes, is accused of smuggling fuel via boats and is allegedly affiliated with the Northeast Cartel.