politics
Inside "the Pool": Fugitive arrested in alleged scheme to control cross-border car trade
August 14, 2026 / 1:00 PM EDT / CBS News
TL;DR
- Rigoberto Brown, a fugitive in a price-fixing scheme, has been arrested near McAllen, Texas.
- The scheme, known as "the Pool," allegedly monopolized the used car export business through the Rio Grande Valley.
- Prosecutors allege that Carlos Martinez, a businessman and son-in-law of a former cartel leader, controlled the operation by fixing prices and sharing revenues.
- The "empresa" allegedly coerced businesses into their system and imposed an extortion payment called "piso" on vehicles crossing the border.
- Threats and violence were allegedly used to enforce the arrangement.
- Brown faces federal charges related to price-fixing and monopolizing the transmigrante forwarding business.
- Carlos Martinez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 years in prison and a $2 million fine.
- Two other defendants, Miguel Hipolito Caballero Aupart and Diego Ceballos-Soto, remain fugitives.