Former Gulf Cartel boss pleads guilty to weapons, assault charges

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- The one-time leader of Mexico's Gulf Cartel pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to assault of a federal officer and drug-related charges, U.S. prosecutors said.

Jorge Costilla-Sanchez, also known as El Moss, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana in addition to two assault counts Tuesday.

The 46-year-old took control of the Gulf Cartel, which controls drug trafficking in northern Tamaulipas state, in 2003 after its former leader, Osiel Cardenas, was arrested. The Mexican navy arrested Costilla-Sanchez in 2012.

The U.S. attorney's office in the southern district of Texas said that during Costilla-Sanchez's involvement in the Gulf Cartel, the organization was responsible for importing thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana into the United States.

In November 1999, prosecutors said Costilla-Sanchez and members of his security team stopped two U.S. federal agents at gunpoint near a residence of a member of the cartel.

"Several CDG members also pointed AK-47s at the agents who felt in fear of losing their lives," the attorney's office, using an acronym for the cartel, said in a release.

Costilla-Sanchez is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4.