A Presidio man who narrowly lost a Presidio County Commissioners Court race last year—Tiburcio “Butch” Acosta, 50—is in a federal detainment center after being indicted for allegedly smuggling guns to the La Linea cartel in Mexico, according to records from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Acosta entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday at the Pecos U.S. District Courthouse. The indictment alleges Acosta, along with another man, Adelberto Jaquez Hinojosa of Presidio, had been smuggling guns to the cartel since 2020.
Acosta ran for the Precinct 3 county commissioner in the Democratic primary in 2024, but lost in a May runoff to Franky Ortiz. He is the manager of UETA, the Presidio store for entering Mexico with tax-free liquor and other items.
The indictment alleges the men received ammunition and guns—including automatic weapons—and facilitated them getting to the La Linea cartel in Mexico. La Linea controls much of Chihuahua. An offshoot of the Juarez Cartel, it has been in recent warfare with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Ojinaga, Mexico, across the border from Presidio, has seen continuing violence after a shakeup in La Linea leadership led to warfare for control of the cartel. La Linea leader, Sergio “El Menchaca” Pizarro, was arrested in Presidio in 2023—found walking on the road near Fort Leaton east of Presidio and apparently fleeing from Ojinaga to save his life from rivals, which led to the power struggle. In March, Pizarro was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay a roughly $20 million fine to the United States.
The indictment states several instances of smuggling for the two men, including: “On or about April 18, 2022 Co-Conspirator 2 delivered a large shipment of firearms to Tiburcio Acosta also known as (a.k.a. Butch Acosta) which shipment included two SCAR rifles, AR 15 rifles and AK 47 type rifles which rifles were in turn smuggled into Mexico for use by the La Linea cartel.”
Acosta, who was arrested on November 13, is expected to have a hearing on December 1 at the federal courthouse in Alpine. He is a popular figure in Presidio, having an extensive connection of friends in both Presidio and Marfa, throwing his hat in the ring for appointments to local government posts, serving long ago as a Presidio City Council member, as well as running a barbecue truck at some points, providing food at area rodeos.