Beyond the Border

News and analysis from the Texas-Mexico region.

Picture released of narco’s gold-plated gun


Prosecutors released this picture of the gold-plated pistol they said was found during the arrest of a Gulf Cartel plaza boss


The picture came as part of an announcement that prison gang and cartel member Luis Ivan Nino Dueñes, 28, had been sentenced to five years in prison on a charge of being an alien in possession of a firearm.

Nino was arrested in October 2011, along with Jose Luis Zuñiga Hernandez, who prosecutors allege is known as “Comandante Wicho” and oversaw the Gulf Cartel’s smuggling “plaza” in the border city of Matamoros.

The gold-plated and bejeweled pistol agents seized when the men were arrested is engraved with the words “Wicho.”

Zuñiga pleaded guilty to charges of illegally reentering the country and being in possession of a handgun while being in the country illegally. He’s serving a seven-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors in Tuesday’s sentencing hearing alleged that Nino had also attempted to intimidate a witness.

Jason Buch

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Jason Buch