One of the top lieutenants of the Gulf Cartel was arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border by Mexican police on Friday. Police said Monday that the suspect was identified as Hugo Salinas Cortinas, alias "La Cabra," which means The Goat.

Authorities noted that Salinas Cortinas was implicated in 23 attacks on police and nine against military personnel, aside from doing drug trafficking activities.

When the Gulf Cartel lieutenant was arrested, two firearms and 600 pills were confiscated from him that authorities believe to be fentanyl.

According to the Associated Press, La Cabra was in charge of the drug and migrant smuggling along a stretch of the Rio Grande river on Mexico's side, also known as the Rio Bravo.

Salinas Cortinas was caught in a joint operation by police and military forces in a territory comprising the Camargo and Miguel Aleman towns across the border towns of Rio Grande City and Roma in Texas.

La Cabra is reportedly a top lieutenant of the violent Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel. His wife was already arrested in Roma, Texas, back in 2021. 

According to local media reports, police found over $800,000 hidden in her home. The money was placed in shoeboxes and backpacks.

The Gulf Cartel, or the Cartel del Golfo, has separated into smaller factions after the arrest and extradition of some of its top leaders over the past years.

READ NEXT: Americans Who Were Kidnapped by Gulf Cartel in Mexico Detail Harrowing Experience

Another Gulf Cartel Boss was Sentenced to Prison

In March, one of the top leaders of the Gulf Cartel was sentenced to 180 months in prison. He was Lee Roy Villarreal, the 39-year-old brother of the late Miguel Villarreal, alias "Gringo Mike," a former Gulf Cartel plaza boss.

Villarreal was sentenced in Houston for his role in distributing cocaine, according to the Department of Justice.

CBS News reported that Villareal was convicted of conspiracy to sell five kilograms of cocaine as he and his associates ran a large drug-trafficking organization on behalf of his brother and the Gulf Cartel.

They reportedly transported drugs from Panama and Mexico to Texas, Georgia, Illinois, and Indiana. In five years, around 150 to 450 kilograms of cocaine were distributed by the group.

Villarreal was arrested in California but maintained no illegal association with his notorious brother.

U.S. Has Been Spying on the Gulf Cartel Since the Kidnapping of 4 Americans

The Gulf Cartel may be one of Mexico's most notorious drug cartels, but it was not as well known as the Sinaloa Cartel or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

However, the kidnapping of four U.S. citizens in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, changed all that. American intelligence agencies have reportedly been spying on the drug cartel's activities after four Americans were kidnapped in Matamoros.

According to El Pais, when the Americans were in Gulf Cartel custody, the U.S. wiretapped conversations between members of the Gulf Cartel.

Cartel members reportedly discussed how the Mexican armed forces might respond to the kidnapping, with some members calling affiliated lawyers and telling them "to remove all information related to the kidnapping from their cellphones."

These classified documents on the U.S. spying on the drug cartel, along with the military reports on the Ukraine war, were first reported by the Washington Post after the classified records were leaked on Discord.

READ MORE: Mexico Kidnapping: Mourners Gathered for American Man Killed by the Gulf Cartel

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: 5 Alleged Gulf Cartel Members Charged in Kidnapping of Americans - From ABC News