EAGLE PASS, Texas – Federal agents arrested Eagle Pass trucking businessman Julio Rodolfo González on a federal money laundering conspiracy charge tied to an investigation into fuel being moved from Texas into Mexico, according to other local news sources.

The arrest happened late Thursday night Oct. 22 at a home in a residential neighborhood on the north side of Eagle Pass, according to other local news sources. Those reports describe a months-long investigation involving authorities on both sides of the border. Some reports credit agents with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, while others describe Homeland Security and U.S. Marshals units at the scene.

What He Is Charged With

González faces a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering under Title 18, Section 1956(h) of the U.S. Code, according to other local news sources. Under that federal law, anyone who conspires to commit a money laundering offense faces the same penalties as the underlying crime. Laundering the proceeds of certain unlawful activity under Section 1956 carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to the statute.

The case is being handled out of Dallas in the Northern District of Texas, where the charging documents remain sealed, according to other local news sources. After his arrest, González went before a federal magistrate judge in Del Rio, who ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to transfer him to Dallas to face the pending charge, according to the same reports.

Sealed cases are common in federal conspiracy investigations when not everyone involved has been arrested. Redacted court documents could become public once González appears before a judge in Dallas.

As of Monday morning Nov. 9, The Maverick Times found no press release on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern or Western Districts of Texas, and no public court filing was available because the case is sealed.

The Alleged Fuel Scheme

Reports on the case describe a scheme in which tractor-trucks crossed into Eagle Pass, filled up on Texas diesel and drove back across the border into Piedras Negras and nearby Nava to unload the fuel and repeat the trip, according to other local news sources. Some reporting says drivers used makeshift drums inside truck cabs to haul more fuel on each run. Federal authorities have not publicly confirmed those details.

Fuel smuggling, known in Mexico as huachicol, has become one of the most profitable illegal trades along the border. Posts on social media have tried to tie González to larger fuel networks in Mexico, but no federal agency or public court record has made that connection, and The Maverick Times is not reporting it.

His Trucking Companies

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records list Frontera Express Limited Liability Company, USDOT number 1205403, at 7999 US Highway 277 South in Eagle Pass. The company holds active operating authority MC-479021 and reports 20 trucks and 20 drivers, according to the agency’s SAFER database.

The same federal database lists a second carrier, Julio Rodolfo González Olveda, doing business as Transportes Julio Rodolfo González Olveda, under USDOT number 2927508 with Mexican authority MX-999277 and 25 trucks and 25 drivers. Both carriers share the same Eagle Pass post office box, P.O. Box 1124, according to the records.

González has not been convicted of any crime. A charge is only an accusation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. The Maverick Times will update this story when the case is unsealed or federal prosecutors release more information.

Also read: Texas Border Security Upgrades With X-Ray Scanners at Eagle Pass International Bridges

Sources: FMCSA SAFER company snapshots for USDOT 1205403 and 2927508 | 18 U.S.C. 1956 money laundering statute | U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of Texas | U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Texas | Other local news sources

Photo: The Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas. U.S. Department of Homeland Security photo by Tia Dufour.