A mansion in Brownsville belonging to the head of a major drug trafficking operation was seized by the federal government to be sold at a government auction, according to a news release. 

The mansion, located at the 300 block of Cowan Terrace in Brownsville, includes six bedrooms, four bathrooms, and more than 6,900 square feet and has been appraised at approximately $1.7 million, according to federal court records.

The mansion was purchased by Juan De Dios Gomez-Gonzalez with drug proceeds and used to launder money, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas.

Court records identify Gomez-Gonzalez as the head of the Gomez-Gonzalez Drug Trafficking Organization and responsible for importing “large quantities of cocaine” from Mexico into the United States from 2009 up until his death in September 2023.

Gomez-Gonzalez also transported “illegal drug proceeds” from the United States into Mexico.

Members of the drug trafficking organization stored the cocaine in stash houses in Brownsville before delivering it to customers in Texas and other states, including California, Nevada, North Carolina, Indiana, and Florida.

Gomez-Gonzalez laundered the money made from drug trafficking via two businesses he owned in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and a construction company he operated.

The mansion was purchased by Gomez-Gonzalez and his wife in February 2013 for $330,000, and was heavily renovated with the construction company he operated.

According to the court document, Gomez-Gonzalez was indicted for narcotics and money laundering violations, but he was killed in a shootout in Mexico before he could be arrested and extradited to the United States.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations conducted the civil and criminal investigation, the news release added.