BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS -- A South Texas federal judge has ruled that evidence gathered in interviews with a high-ranking member of the Mexican Gulf cartel's Matamoros operations weren't coerced and will be admissible in court.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled in Brownsville Thursday after a two-day suppression hearing.

Court documents show Jose Luis Zuniga Hernandez -- also known as "Comandante Wicho" -- admitted to his role in the cartel's marijuana-smuggling operations and divulged other details in four interviews after his October arrest near the Rio Grande.

Zuniga's attorney argued his client was fleeing for his life and agents threatened to send him back.

Prosecutors, however, said no promises were made to get Zuniga's cooperation and that five times he acknowledged and signed warnings that anything he said could be used against him.