Federal prosecutors have taken legal action to seize a $450,000 dollar condo on South Padre Island owned by a former Tamaulipas governor.
A civil forfeiture lawsuit filed in Corpus Christi alleges that the condo owned by former Gov. Tomas Yarrington was purchased with drug money.
The forfeiture is linked to a federal money laundering indictment filed in Brownsville against Ciudad Victoria businessman Fernando Alejandro Cano-Martinez.
According to the indictment, Cano-Martinez funneled millions of dollars in bribes from the Gulf Cartel to Yarrington and other politicians.
Yarrington is not facing criminal charges but Cano-Martinez is listed as a fugitive for the indictment.
Money Laundering
The indictment against Cano-Martinez alleges that the drug money was used to buy millions of dollars worth of real estate in Texas.
A series of dummy corporations and bank loans were taken out ofor the purchses.
One of the companies comes back registered to a unindicted co-conspirator living off Sagua La Grande Drive in the Brownsville Country Club.
Prosecutors allege that Yarrington's condo at the Bridgepoint Condominiums on South Padre Island and a $6.6 million dollar property off Culebra Road in San Antonio were among those purchases.
South Padre Island
The owner for the condo on South Padre Island is listed as man named Napoleon Rodriguez but prosecutors allege that Yarrington is the actual owner.
Rodriguez is not facing charges but the lawsuit states he owns the Ferreteria Industrial Rodriguez in Matamoros and worked on Yarrington's political campaigns.
They allegedly Yarrington gave Rodriguez the money to buy back in December 1998 and that Yarrington pays the annual property taxes and maintenance fees.
It's not the first time Yarrington's name has been linked to a money laundering investigation.
Federal prosecutors in San Antonio alleged back in February that a man in their custody funneled millions of dollars in bribes from the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas to Yarrington.
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