The owner of San Antonio restaurant Pollos Asados “El Gordo” was indicted last week on cocaine-trafficking allegations, according to court records obtained by The Current.
Jonathan Linares Lumbreras, 32, faces charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. If convicted, he faces five to forty years in jail, a $5 million fine, and at least four years of supervised release.
He is currently being jailed without bail and has entered a not-guilty plea.
According to an arrest affidavit, the FBI began investigating Lumbreras in April after an informant initiated a transaction with the restaurant owner via the encrypted messaging app Threema.
According to the affidavit, Lumbreras sent an accomplice, only known as “co-conspirator 1,” to complete the deal. According to the affidavit, co-conspirator 1, who the FBI described as a Lumbreras drug mule, sold blow to the undercover agent twice. Both transactions occurred in April at the McDonald’s parking lot at Walters Street and I-35, with the total weight of the drugs being around one kilogram, according to the FBI.
According to the affidavit, the FBI was able to arrest Lumbreras because one of his other drug mules, Edward Smith, was apprehended by the Texas Department of Transportation carrying more than a kilogram of cocaine in his automobile. The paper indicates that Smith was on his way to deliver another order organized by Lumbrera to the undercover FBI agent when he was arrested.
Lumbrera’s Pollos Asados “El Gordo,” at 2404 Pinn Road, has been a favorite West Side eatery since it opened. It was even featured in an episode of KSAT-TV’s Texas Eats earlier this year.
According to the Express-News, Lumbrera’s arrest has prompted some in South Africa’s legal community to compare the restaurateur to Gus Fring, the owner of the Los Pollos Hermanos chain featured in the AMC series Breaking Bad.
In the show, Fring runs a methamphetamine trafficking organization from his restaurant.
Lumbreras’ current arrest is not the first time he has faced drug-related allegations.
According to the US Justice Department, Lumbreras was arrested in 2021 when authorities discovered him with 25 kilograms of cocaine, 35 weapons, two silencers, a grenade, body armor, and $265,000 in cash. In that case, he was condemned to 20 months in prison and put under federal monitoring.
The arrest marks the second time in recent months that the FBI has made headlines in connection with a South Texas food business.
In July, the FBI raided numerous Delia’s Tamales locations, including one in San Antonio. Although the agency has not publicly announced the reason for the raid, the probe could be related to a complaint filed last year accusing the chain’s owners of pay fraud.