Mexican Mayor Rejects Having His Visa Revoked Over Alleged Ties With Cartel

A Mexican mayor denied being prevented entry to the United States and having his visa revoked over alleged ties with the Gulf Cartel.

Speaking to press on Friday, Matamoros Mayor Jose Granados said he experienced a routine check-up “like every person who crosses into the U.S.” “My visa was not revoked, it was just a routine check-up,” he added. He did not say if his visa had been revoked, but local journalist Salvador Garcia Soto said it was.

Granados was responding to a publication made by Cameron County authorities, which said the U.S. had revoked his visa over alleged ties with the Gulf Cartel. It added that he was detained on Thursday at the Brownsville Port of Entry before the decision was made.

“The investigation is ongoing, but sources close to the case confirm that U.S. agencies have been monitoring the mayor’s alleged involvement with the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal organization.”

Granados also addressed the alleged cartel ties, saying that “some media owners want to link me with a person who was recently detained in the U.S.” He was making reference to José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga “El Fresa,” for whom the U.S. is offering millions for his role in major drug trafficking operations. Local journalists claim his wife and brother are employed by the Granados administration.

Olascoaga and his brother, known as “El Pez,” are the accused leaders of the cartel, declared a terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

The two brothers from Guerrero, Mexico have been on law enforcement’s radar for a while. Although they were indicted in September 2024, those court documents were only unsealed this week, the Miami Herald reported. Federal prosecutors officially charged them on Tuesday for trafficking large quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the U.S.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the cartel is responsible for more than 36 tons of meth, 12 tons of heroin, and 12 tons of cocaine entering the U.S. every year.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury also announced rewards of up to $8 million for information leading to the brothers capture and new sanctions against two more of their siblings—Ubaldo and Adita Hurtado Olascoaga.