Man in alleged $900k drug-cash smuggling related to Mexican politicians

Rafael Gabriel Martinez Leal, 19, left, and Juan Pablo Hoyos Avila, 19, right (or front), leave the federal courthouse in San Antonio on Tuesday, July 17, 2017, after a hearing on bulk-cash smuggling charges. Rafael Gabriel Martinez Leal, 19, left, and Juan Pablo Hoyos Avila, 19, right (or front), leave the federal courthouse in San Antonio on Tuesday, July 17, 2017, after a hearing on bulk-cash smuggling charges. Photo: Guillermo Contreras, Staff Photographer Photo: Guillermo Contreras, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 41 Caption Close Man in alleged $900k drug-cash smuggling related to Mexican politicians 1 / 41 Back to Gallery

One of the teens arrested this week for allegedly trying to smuggle $900,000 in a private airplane out of San Antonio is related to a regional coordinator for the transition team of Mexico’s president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the wife of the governor of the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

Rafael Gabriel Martinez Leal, 19, and University of Incarnate Word student Juan Pablo Hoyos Avila, 19, were on a plane bound for Monterrey, Mexico, on Tuesday when it was detained at the San Antonio International Airport. The two were taken off the plane after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents found the suspected drug cash hidden onboard.

Martinez told Homeland Security agents that he smuggled $1 million of suspected drug proceeds a week to Mexico — for a 3.5 percent cut — and that Hoyos warehoused the money for him at a San Antonio apartment, according to court records.

RELATED: Incarnate Word student, friend found with $900K on private plane

Numerous Mexican news outlets reported Wednesday that Martinez is a cousin of José Ramón Gomez Leal Jr., who is the coordinator in Tamaulipas for the incoming president’s transition team. The reports said Martinez also is a cousin to Mariana Gómez de García Cabeza de Vaca, the wife of Tamaulipas governor Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca. She is the director in Tamaulipas of DIF, Mexico’s social assistance agency, according to DIF’s website.

The governor’s office confirmed late Wednesday that Martinez is a cousin of the governor’s wife, but said neither Martinez, nor the conduct he’s charged for, has anything to do with the governor or the state office.

“(Martinez) is not a direct relative of the governor. He has nothing to do with the governor,” the office’s statement said. “It’s unfortunate what’s going on. If (Martinez) in fact is responsible for the acts, as alleged, then he should face the consequences in accordance with the law.”

Posts on social media show Martinez in several photos with José Gómez. According to his Facebook page, José Gómez identifies himself as a politician with a degree in public administration at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. He ran in 2016 as an independent candidate for mayor of Reynosa, a city in Tamaulipas that borders Brownsville, but did not win. He also ran unsuccessfully for federal and state legislative seats and is now part of the president’s transition team.

Neither of the Gomezes responded to messages seeking comment from the Express-News on Wednesday.

In a statement Wednesday, the University of the Incarnate Word said Hoyos is registered there for the fall semester but Martinez has not been a UIW student.

“We expect all students to serve as community citizens both on and off-campus, and the conduct leading to this arrest is subject to disciplinary proceedings through the Code of Conduct,” the statement said

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio and Homeland Security Investigations declined to comment Wednesday beyond what’s in a court affidavit.

Lawyers for the suspects declined to talk about the allegations or did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Hoyos is scheduled for a bail hearing in San Antonio’s federal court Friday, and Martinez’s bail hearing is set for July 27. If convicted, each could face up to five years in prison.

Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland