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A former special forces police officer in the state of Tamaulipas switched sides and became a cell leader within the Gulf Cartel. Most recently, the cop turned drug lord was behind most of the violence in the central part of Tamaulipas, particularly in the cities of Jimenez, Abasolo, and Soto La Marina.

This week, Mexican federal and state authorities arrested Roy “El Marino” James during a raid in Ciudad Victoria, the state capital of Tamaulipas. The raid took place in the Hacienda Del Bosque neighborhood, where authorities found James and his wife inside a house. During a search of the property, authorities seized weapons, explosive devices, and drugs.

Mugshot of Roy “El Marino” James, a captured Gulf Cartell cell leader. (Credit: Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles)

James is described as a leader of the Ciclones cell within the Gulf Cartel. The Ciclones were one of the cartel cells based out of the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, along with the Escorpiones. The two cells operated most of the criminal businesses in the northern part of the state. James is described as a former member of a special forces unit with the Tamaulipas State Police (GOPES), but it remains unclear when he switched sides. In recent months, he had been behind a big push in the central part of Tamaulipas, where both Escorpiones and Ciclones had pushed out the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas and taken control of that part of the state.

After the raid, authorities moved James to a federal detention center pending future hearings on various drug and weapons charges.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.