Two more arrested in rural Mercedes pseudo-cop case
EDINBURG — Sheriff’s deputies arrested two men Tuesday who are accused of posing as FBI agents earlier this month during a home invasion purportedly led by a former Mexican federal officer.
Deputies arrested Juan Zuniga Gloria and Eddie Villarreal on Tuesday in connection with a Sept. 2 home invasion on Tia Maria Street north of Mercedes, according to an Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office statement.
Three other suspects, including the group’s purported leader — a former Mexican federal policeman — remain at large.
Villarreal, 27, was arrested Tuesday morning at his residence in the Pueblo de Palmas subdivision near La Joya, deputies said. Zuniga, 32, turned himself in to an Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office robbery investigator Tuesday morning.
Both men were charged with aggravated robbery at an arraignment Tuesday afternoon at the Hidalgo County Jail. Moments after they were read their charges, Zuniga said he was innocent of the crime.
The arrests came after deputies received a tip about the whereabouts of Rafael "Tacuache" Saenz and Eduardo Varela, two men who were arrested Sept. 22. Those men implicated five others in the Sept. 2 home invasion.
Masked pseudo-cops raided a house shortly after midnight that night near the intersection of Mile 11 North and Mile 2 West roads, shouting that they were FBI agents, Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies have said. The men ransacked the property and searched homeowner Juan Perez’s BMW SUV for drugs and cash, reportedly pistol-whipping the man and making off with his vehicle.
Saenz and Varela gave corroborating information to investigators that implicated five others in the aggravated robbery.
Deputies received a tip Sept. 22 that led them to Zuniga’s residence at 900 Flores Del Sol St. in Donna. There, deputies recovered several parts of Perez’s BMW, which police believe the suspects had torn apart.
Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Bobby Contreras set each man’s bond at $250,000 for the aggravated robbery charges. If convicted, they could each face a 99-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.
Meanwhile, authorities continue to look for the three remaining pseudo-cop suspects.
The alleged ringleader, 37-year-old Ricardo Guzman, is a former Mexican federal police officer, investigators said. Deputies are also looking for 24-year-old Ruben "Chacho" Villarreal and 31-year-old Carlos "El Rojo" Castillo.
