Three men allegedly sent by the cartel to kidnap Tyler in front of his family

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – Three men have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of Tyler, who they say owes the Juarez cartel $80,000. According to the document, one of the suspects owns a restaurant at the Tyler Pounds airport and repeatedly crossed the border to allegedly obtain drugs for a drug ring that has attracted the attention of federal agencies. Through a records request to the 114th District Court, KLTV obtained an affidavit of probable cause for one of the suspects. It contains detailed information about the charges against all three.

The affidavit states that on March 17, a red Honda HRV pulled into the driveway of an FM 2015 home in Tyler while a couple with their two sons were about to leave for a family gathering. Two men got out, allegedly put a gun to the father’s head and pushed him into the car.

The man’s sons followed the Honda until it stopped in front of a store on Highway 271. According to the affidavit, the suspects got out, displayed a gun and warned his sons not to follow them. The men allegedly said they needed to send $10,000 if they wanted their father back, and the family soon received a call from the victim’s phone demanding money.

Authorities called the cell phone number and learned the suspects were heading west toward Dallas. When detectives interviewed the sons, they described the driver, later identified as Julio Cesar Cordova, 48, as thin, with a trim beard, wearing a hat, long-sleeved shirt and an orange and brown vest, and armed with a silver revolver. The passenger, Walybert Eron Cordova-Rascon, 39, was described as having a large build, wearing yellow-tinted sunglasses and a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his arms covered in tattoos. They alleged that Cordova-Rascon was carrying a black handgun.

The affidavit states that the suspects continued to call the victim’s wife by talking to him through the car’s loudspeaker. The wife told them she didn’t have $10,000, so they adjusted their demand to $5,000 and then “whatever she could come up with,” according to the document.

When cell signals showed the suspects stopped at a gas station in Fort Worth, local police identified the vehicle and stopped. The statement says officers found the victim in the back seat and detained the suspects, then towed the car to a police parking lot for a later investigation. Police said the car was registered as a rental and a search found two weapons matching the previous description, as well as drugs and a tracking device.

A notebook was also found in the vehicle, which contained the victim’s name, address, family information, and a note about “11 birds” and “80,000.” – we read in the statement. Detectives noted that “birds” is a common drug term used to denote body weight in kilograms, so the book showed that the victim owed someone 11 kg of a specific drug and $80,000.

The statement revealed that on the victim’s phone, detectives found text messages with an unknown Mexican number regarding owing a certain amount of money, as well as text messages confirming the purchase and sale of drugs. The victim continued to claim that he did not know the two men when they showed up in his driveway, and he got into his car because they threatened to shoot his family if he didn’t. He said that after the kidnapping, Walybert Cordova-Rascon sat next to him in the backseat and drank methamphetamine while driving.

Julio Cordova allegedly denied kidnapping the victim during an interview with detectives, and Walybert Cordova-Rascon said the two, who are cousins, came from Colorado to Houston for work. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said Julio Cordova lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Walybert Cordova-Rascon lives in Strasbourg, Colorado. When detectives asked to search their phones, they wouldn’t say anything more.

Both were arrested and booked into the Smith County Jail on March 18 on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping for ransom. The indictments show Julio Cordova’s bail was set at $750,000 and Walybert Cordova-Rascon’s bail was set at $450,000. Walybert was released on bail on April 15, after another interview with detectives.

The interrogation revealed that he described in detail the events surrounding the kidnapping, beginning with how he was told to choose a victim. Walybert Cordova-Rascon allegedly said the information came from the La Linea cartel based in Juarez, Mexico, to which the victim is in debt. Cordova-Rascon said he received a contact in Tyler that could lead him to the victim.

The contact was known under the false name “Glesias,” and the cousins met him at a gas station on Loop 323 in Tyler on the day of the kidnapping, according to the affidavit. Glesias led them to the victim’s home, drove up in his gray SUV and pointed at the house, the affidavit said. Cordova-Rascon added that he drove away when the red Honda turned into the driveway.

La Linea claims the victim is keeping a large sum of money after working with another cartel, allegedly Cordova-Rascon. He claimed that during phone calls in the car, conditions were met and a “repayment schedule” was agreed upon.

Detectives then focused on identifying “Glesias,” whom the victim knew but did not know his real name, the statement said. The document describes him as tall, extremely thin, with a face “sunken as if he was on drugs” and one eye that “will wander to the side if he looks at you.”

Using the victim’s phone records, authorities said they found Glesias’ number and downloaded records for a landline 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 multiple visits to Tyler Pounds Regional Airport .

Detectives contacted neighbors in the area who recognized his description as matching Brandon Markeith Jeffrey, 41. An arrest affidavit states that neighbors reported that Jeffrey had rented an apartment there for about 1.5 years and owned the Mile Restaurant High at Tyler Pounds. Authorities said they found surveillance video from two Walmart stores in Tyler that showed Jeffrey driving the gray vehicle described by Cordova-Rascon.

During the investigation, detectives said they found records from a 2018 robbery in which Jeffrey admitted to bringing four kilograms of cocaine from the border, as well as evidence of seven border crossings between 2020 and 2023. His phone records show that he contacted many people who were detained. Drug or firearms trafficking investigations are ongoing, the statement said, including persons of interest in drug conspiracy cases from multiple local, state and federal agencies across the United States.

Authorities also said they found photos during the call of an undercover Smith County Sheriff’s Office detective with a text message that read, “The one who gets everybody.”

A warrant was issued for Jeffrey’s arrest on October 23, and on October 24, he was booked into the Smith County Jail. He was charged with facilitating aggravated kidnapping and his bail is set at $750,000.

Julio Cordova and Walybert Cordova-Rascon were arraigned on June 20, and a plea hearing is scheduled for November 6 before Judge Taylor Heaton.

KLTV has contacted its lawyers. One said he had no comment at the moment, the other had not responded yet. The court said no letter representing Jeffrey had yet been received.