McALLEN, Texas — Federal authorities arrested a former chief and current police sergeant for his role in allegedly helping Mexico’s Gulf Cartel move cocaine and marijuana through his jurisdiction. The Texas cop claimed that he needed money to pay for his upcoming bid for county constable after a failed attempt for the Hidalgo County Sheriff position.

Current Progreso Police Sergeant Geovani Hernandez went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby who formally charged him with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine.

The case against Hernandez began earlier this year when agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations received information from a confidential informant indicating that Sgt. Geovani Hernandez was working for the Gulf Cartel, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed. According to the documents, Hernandez bragged to an informant that he was a friend of former Gulf Cartel leader Juan Manuel “El Toro” Loza Salina and was able to travel to Reynosa without heat. The Texas cop told the informant that he needed money for his upcoming race for Hidalgo County Constable.

Federal agents used an informant and a cooperating defendant to capture Hernandez helping the group move various bricks of cocaine while also running license plates and to help determine the amount of law enforcement resources surrounding the alleged criminal activity.

Hernandez previously worked as the police chief in the border town of La Joya, Texas, and was in office in 2014 when a Gulf Cartel-linked gunman had a three-hour shootout with law enforcement in his city, Breitbart Texas reported during that encounter. The gunman barricaded himself in a house and shot two cops as more than 500 rounds of ammunition were exchanged. The gunman was identified as a member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang that was smuggling drugs for the Gulf Cartel and was wanted in connection with the execution of another man in Edinburg.

In 2012, Hernandez failed in his effort to unseat former Hidalgo County Sheriff Guadalupe “Lupe” Treviño. In 2014, Treviño was sentenced to five years in federal prison for taking bribes from another Mexican drug lord identified as Tomas “El Gallo” Gonzalez who operated out of Weslaco, Breitbart Texas reported. At the time of Treviño’s conviction and sentencing, close to a dozen law enforcement officials tied to his department were being prosecuted for their alleged roles in stealing drug loads and selling them on the side. One of the conspiracies involved a drug interdiction force called the Panama Unit, while another conspiracy involved the Crime Stoppers tip line.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.

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

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