Fugitive linked to Texas car-export cartel arrested after years on the run
Federal authorities captured Rigoberto Brown, a wanted participant in a scheme that monopolized the cross-border used-car market known as “the Pool.”
Law-enforcement officials apprehended Rigoberto Brown, a fugitive who allegedly assisted Carlos “Cuate” Martinez in operating a cartel that dominated the transmigrante forwarding business along the Texas-Mexico border. The scheme, dubbed “the Pool,” involved fixing prices, pooling revenues and coercing independent agencies through an extortion fee known as the “piso.” By controlling relationships with licensed Mexican customs brokers, the conspirators forced outsiders to comply with their pricing and revenue-sharing rules, sometimes using violence against competitors and their families.
Martinez, the son-in-law of a former Gulf Cartel leader, has already been sentenced to 11 years in prison and a $2 million fine. Brown, charged in November 2022 with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, fled to Mexico and was captured near McAllen this week; he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine per charge. Eight co-defendants have already been sentenced, while two remain at large. The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, with prosecution by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, and the Southern District of Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Why it matters
The arrest demonstrates federal resolve to dismantle cross-border trade cartels that inflate costs and threaten regional economies.
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