A woman and five men have been charged with possession of marijuana following a deadly shootout Sunday, but more charges could be pending in what Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino is calling the first episode of spillover violence.
The possession of marijuana charges all stem from a botched drug transaction and kidnapping Sunday.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said David Gonzales Perez and another man kidnapped two people who they believed knew where the pot was hidden, and that’s when deputy Hugo Rodriguez and his partner arrived on the scene pulled them over during a traffic stop and a shootout began injuring Rodriguez and killing Perez.
Sheriff Trevino said the six people charged with possession of marijuana were involved in an indirect way in the shooting of the deputy.
“Out of the 6, we have one that will be formally charged with attempted capital murder, maybe aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping charges and there’s also we’re talking to district attorney’s office and we could possibly file murder charges,” said Sheriff Trevino.
Trevino tells Action 4 News that during the commission of the drug transaction and kidnapping, a person was killed because of their involvement, and even if they didn’t have a direct hand in the killing of the individual, they were at some point a cause of it or part of it, so they can be charged with murder.
“Believe me in this particular case, we’re not holding back anything. There are no holes that have been barred. We are going at this at full strength,” said Sheriff Trevino.
The sheriff said Perez, the gunman in the shooting was contracted to find a lost load of marijuana for the Gulf Cartel.
The six suspects were given a 150 thousand dollar bond each.
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