TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Three men have been arrested in the kidnapping of a Tyler man, who they claim owes $80,000 to a cartel in Juarez.
One of the suspects owns the restaurant at Tyler Pounds Airport, a document claims, and has crossed the border multiple times to fetch drugs for a narcotics network that has drawn the attention of federal agencies.
Through an open records request with the 114th District Court, KLTV obtained a probable cause affidavit filed against one of the suspects that provides details on the allegations against all three suspects.
On March 17, a red Honda HRV pulled into the driveway of a home on FM 2015 in Tyler while a couple and their two sons were about to leave for a family gathering, according to the affidavit. Two men got out, allegedly put a gun to the father’s head, and forced him into their car.
The man’s sons followed the Honda, until it pulled over at a shop on Highway 271. The suspects got out, displayed the gun and warned the sons not to follow, the affidavit says. The men allegedly said they needed to send $10,000 if they wanted their father returned, and the family soon received a call from the victim’s phone demanding the money.
Authorities pinged the cell number to learn the suspects were heading west towards Dallas. When detectives interviewed the sons, they described the driver, later identified as Julio Cesar Cordova, 48, as skinny with a trimmed beard, wearing a hat, long-sleeve shirt and orange/brown vest, armed with a silver revolver. The passenger, Walybert Eron Cordova-Rascon, 39, they described as heavyset, wearing yellow-tinted sunglasses and a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to reveal arms covered in tattoos. They claimed Cordova-Rascon carried a black pistol.
The suspects continued to call the victim’s wife, the affidavit states, talking on speaker with the victim in the car. The wife told them she did not have $10,000, so they adjusted the demand to $5,000, then to “whatever she could collect,” according to the document.
When a cell ping showed the suspects had stopped at a gas station in Fort Worth, local police identified the vehicle and made a stop. The affidavit states officers found the victim in the back seat and detained the suspects, towing the car to a police lot for later investigation. Police said the car was registered as a rental, and a search turned up two guns matching the earlier description, along with drugs and an apparent tracking device.
A notebook was also found in the vehicle, which included the victim’s name, address, family information and a memo about “11 birds” and “80K,” the affidavit states. Detectives noted that “birds” is a common drug term used to indicate weight by kilograms, and so the book seemed to imply the victim owed 11 kg of a specific drug and $80,000 to someone.
Detectives found text conversations on the victim’s phone with an unknown Mexican number about owing a particular amount of money, the affidavit says, along with text evidence of buying and selling narcotics. The victim still claimed he did not know the two men when they appeared in his driveway, and said he got in the car because they threatened to shoot his family if he didn’t. He said after he was kidnapped, Walybert Cordova-Rascon was in the back seat next to him consuming meth while they drove.
Julio Cordova allegedly denied kidnapping the victim when detectives spoke to him, and Walybert Cordova-Rascon said the two, who are cousins, came from Colorado to Houston for his job. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office reported Julio Cordova lives in Albuquerque, NM, while Walybert Cordova-Rascon is from Strasburg, CO. When detectives asked to search their phones, they refused to say any more.
Both were arrested and booked into the Smith County Jail on March 18 for charges of aggravated kidnapping for ransom. Indictments show Julio Cordova’s bond was set at $750,000 and Walybert Cordova-Rascon’s was set at $450,000. Walybert posted bail on April 15, after a follow-up interview with detectives.
In the interview, the affidavit says he described the events of the kidnapping in detail, beginning with how he was told to target the victim. Walybert Cordova-Rascon allegedly said the information came from the La Linea cartel based in Juarez, Mexico, to which the victim was in debt. Cordova-Rascon said he was given a contact in Tyler who could lead him to the victim.
This contact was known by the false name “Glesias,” the affidavit says, and the cousins met him at a gas station on Loop 323 in Tyler the day of the kidnapping. Glesias led them to the victim’s house, pulling up in his gray SUV and pointing his finger at the home, the affidavit says. He drove away as the red Honda turned into the driveway, Cordova-Rascon said.
La Linea claims the victim has been holding on to a large amount of money after working with a different cartel, Cordova-Rascon allegedly said. He claimed terms were met during phone calls in the car, and a “timeline for repayment” was established.
Detectives next turned their attention to identifying “Glesias,” who the victim knew but did not have a real name for, the affidavit says. The document describes him as being tall, extremely skinny, with a face that is “sunken in, like he is on drugs” and one eye that will “wander off to the side if he looks at you.”
Using the victim’s phone records, authorities said they found Glesias’ number and pulled details for a burner phone active from Jan. 31 to March 29, showing location data in the area of Cambridge Road and Townhouse Drive in Tyler, as well as numerous visits to Tyler Pounds Regional Airport.
Detectives contacted neighbors in the area identified, who recognized his description as matching Brandon Markeith Jeffrey, 41. The arrest affidavit says the neighbors reported Jeffrey had leased a residence there for about 1.5 years and owned the Mile High restaurant at Tyler Pounds. Authorities said they found surveillance video from two Walmarts in Tyler that showed Jeffrey driving the grey vehicle described by Cordova-Rascon.
During investigation, detectives said they found records from a 2018 robbery in which Jeffrey admitted to picking up four kilos of cocaine from the border, along with evidence of seven border crossings between 2020 and 2023. His phone records revealed contact with multiple people who had been investigated for narcotics or firearm trafficking, the affidavit says, including persons of interest in narcotics conspiracy cases from multiple local, state and federal agencies across the United States.
Also on the phone, authorities said they found photos of an undercover Smith County Sheriff’s Office detective, with a text reading, “This who getting everybody.”
On Oct. 23, a warrant was issued for Jeffrey’s arrest, and on Oct. 24 he was booked into the Smith County Jail. He has been charged with facilitating an aggravated kidnapping, with bond set at $750,000.
Julio Cordova and Walybert Cordova-Rascon were both indicted on June 20, and they have a plea docket agreement hearing scheduled for Nov. 6 before Judge Taylor Heaton.
KLTV has reached out to their attorneys. One said he has no comment at this time, and the other has not yet responded. The court said no letter of representation has yet been received for Jeffrey.