- Witnesses heard a Texas man bragging about stealing $50,000 from a Mexican drug cartel.
- Less than two hours later, a group of armed men kidnapped him and took him over the border to Mexico.
A Texas man bragged about stealing $50,000 from a Mexican drug cartel. Less than two hours later, he was kidnapped by a group of armed men from a home in southern Texas and taken over the border.
The FBI says he's still missing.
Witnesses overheard Erik Tadeo Ramirez bragging on a phone call to an unknown woman about stealing money from the Cartel del Noreste while he was at a house party in Laredo, a town close to the US border with Mexico, at about 11 p.m. on March 23, according to an affidavit reviewed by the Laredo Morning Times.
At about 12.45 a.m. on March 24, a group of two or three masked men arrived at the location in a blue Dodge pick-up truck and assaulted Ramirez before forcing him into the car, the FBI said, per the Morning Times.
The car then crossed into Mexico about an hour later, with video footage showing a man with a bloodied face trying to exit the passenger door of the vehicle while it was still in motion. He was pulled back inside the car, according to the affidavit.
Authorities determined that the car was registered to the mother of Jonathan Cavriales. He has since been arrested on a charge of kidnapping.
According to the Morning Times, the car was parked outside of Cavriales's grandmother's house in Nuevo Laredo, which is over the border in Mexico, on the morning of March 24. Cavriales is believed to have stayed at the property overnight.
A day later, on March 25, FBI special agents spoke to two individuals at the address Ramirez was taken from who said they witnessed Ramirez being kidnapped by two or three armed individuals, the Morning Times reported, citing court documents.
On March 27, US Customs and Border Protection officers detained Cavriales after he crossed into the US in the same Dodge pick-up truck.
In a post-arrest interview, Cavriales admitted that he drove the vehicle into Mexico on March 24 with a kidnapped victim along with three other people, the Morning Times reported. He said he was aware that Ramirez had stolen approximately $50,000 from the Cartel Del Noreste, per the affidavit.
The Cartel Del Noreste, which is an offshoot of the Los Zetas cartel, is considered to be one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.
The rest of the men involved in the kidnapping remain at large.
The FBI told Insider that it is unable to comment due to the "ongoing nature of this investigation."