Galindo was one of the ranking members of the BA who would receive laundered funds and disperse it within the Texas State prison system to further the criminal goals of the enterprise. Of the 35 defendants charged, 33 have been apprehended, including April Cardoza, who was found in Juarez, Mexico, last week. The area of El Paso and Ciudad Jurez is in many ways one community, with families, friends, businesses and even gangs joined in the same urban sprawl. Barrio Azteca - Wikipedia The gang expanded after 1996, due in part to increasing deportations of imprisoned Mexican criminals by the United States. Barrio Azteca - InSight Crime RELATED:Feds: Fugitive Texas elementary teacher tied to hit men, drug running and kidnapping. The so-called "hybrid members" allow the gangs to grow their empires with increased influence both in prisons and on the streets. Barrio Azteca Leader Sentenced to Life in Prison and Two Barrio Azteca Tango Blast, Aryan Brotherhood and Aryan Circle are the most active prison gangs in the region. [34] The mayor of Ciudad Jurez said that the massacre was a random act of violence by Mexico's drug gangs because the victims had no apparent ties with organize crime. Twenty-one of 22 U.S.-based defendants have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced, including another BA Lieutenant Roberto Angel Cardona, who was also sentenced to life by Judge Cardone on Feb. 17, 2012. Diplomatic Security Service; the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; El Paso Police Department; El Paso County Sheriffs Office; El Paso Independent School District Police Department; Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission; New Mexico State Police; Dona Ana County, N.M., Sheriffs Office; Las Cruces, N.M., Police Department; Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility and Otero County Prison Facility New Mexico. When quota is collected by the BA, members and leaders deposit the money into the commissary accounts of incarcerated BA leaders, often using fake names or female associates to send the money by wire transfer. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. > A hands-on and results-driven People & Culture leader with more than 17 years' experience working closely with CEOs and senior leaders to deliver innovative HR programs that generate tangible business outcomes. We want to sustain Latin Americas largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources. Twenty-four of those defendants have pleaded guilty, one defendant committed suicide while imprisoned during his trial and six others are pending extradition from Mexico. According to evidence presented in court, witnesses testified to the brutality of the BA. Some of these trainings took place further south of the border, in Torreon, Coahuila, indicating the group has expanded its reach into Mexico and is building its connections. Witnesses also testified that the sale of illegal drugs is the life-blood of the BA. The gang's key ally is the Jurez Cartel and its armed wing, La Linea. The remaining U.S.-based defendant, Ramon Renteria, aka Spooky, took his own life while in prison during his trial. By 2013, it reportedly had up to 5,000 in the Jurez area alone and an estimated 3,000 in the United States. [5] Outside of prison, members would contact imprisoned leaders to verify a status of a person using the name of Barrio Azteca to operate and see if they were in good standing with the organization. In a relatively low-security area inside the prison, the gang members began to produce knives and force other guards to liberate 150 fellow members. [17] The informant said that Ravelo was taken to a house in El Paso where a gang member was being held, his mouth, wrists, and ankles bound with duct tape. Specifically, he was the El Paso BA leader in 2010 until he was arrested on drug charges on April 30, 2010. Some of the victims were stabbed with knives, while others were beaten to death; some were killed with home-made guns. The drug routes through Juarez, known as the Juarez Plaza, are important to drug trafficking organizations because they are a principal illicit drug trafficking conduit into the United States. [68] After fulfilling their mission, the gang members return to safe houses throughout the city or return across the international bridge to El Paso. FBI Gang Threat on the Border 3 Five things to know about the return of Barrio Azteca as top gang threat; 4 Negotiating Violence and Protection in Prison and on the Outside; 5 Ink in the Clink: Prison tattoos explained | Truecrimedaily.com; 6 Reputed Barrio Azteca 'Old Guard' gang leader on wanted list arrested; 7 El Paso Intelligence Center: Mexican U.S. Consulate . 0:36. On October 20, 2009, he was named by the FBI as the 493rd fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. The Jurez Cartel's armed wing, "La Linea," recruited members from Barrio Azteca to fight the Sinaloa Cartel in 2008, and many gang members were killed or arrested. Roughly 33 percent of gang members entering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system in 2014 were from the southeast Texas region, with 90 percent of those coming from Greater Houston. Ten of these members were specifically indicted in connection with the 2010 Consulate case. Barrio Azteca members are suspected of carrying out the March 2010 assassination of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee. Barrio Azteca Leader Sentenced to Life in Prison and Two Barrio Azteca [21] Once they took the guards hostage, Barrio Azteca members went into high-security blocks where the rival members were in, forced the guards to open them, and went about killing the rival inmates. The remaining U.S.-based defendant, Ramon Renteria, aka Spooky, took his own life while in prison during his trial. Tri-City Bombers, Latin Kings and Surenos are more active on a street gang level. Upon graduating from Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014, Joshua joined the Express-News in 2014 as a breaking news reporter. [64] To prevent officers from understanding their communication network, Barrio Azteca also created a secret language based on Nahuatl. And, their numbers total in the thousands on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Boozy Hill Country golf course tees off in New Braunfels, What to know about the invasive hammerhead flatworms in Texas, Cardi B speaks out on viral 'mean girls' TikTok at Astros game. The case was investigated by the FBIs El Paso Field Office, Albuquerque Field (Las Cruces Resident Agency), DEA Juarez and DEA El Paso. Besides drug trafficking, they have been charged with a medley of different crimes. The Barrio Azteca gang members organize themselves using a paramilitary structure and apply English terms or their Spanish equivalent words for ranks such as captain, lieutenant, and sergeant. Ravelo was believed to issue orders for the organization in Jurez, to move back and forth across the US border, and to be responsible for a great deal of the violence that has wracked the border state. An official website of the United States government. Those not in good standing were targeted by the BA for assault or murder. This is a carousel. The boss' criminal career began in 2003, with the man eventually collecting a long list of charges both for traffic of narcotics and violent activities. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. In Ciudad Jurez, however, the gang is known as Los Aztecas. "[67], Gang members in the organizations refer to each other as "carnal," a slang term for brother. The Bloods, Crips, Surenos and Latin Kings are the most active street gangs, while Tango Blast cliques in San Antonio (Orejones) and Austin (La Capirucha) rule the prisons, along with the Texas Mexican Mafia and Aryan Brotherhood. The gang's highly organized nature has helped it gain membership on both sides of the border, and it could now be in a position to make the leap into large-scale transnational organized crime. [46] The weapons used in the attack and the style the U.S. officials were killed pointed to drug traffickers as suspects; evidence provided from American intelligence and Mexican authorities then pointed to Barrio Azteca as the perpetrators. According to the February 2014 testimony of one jailed Azteca member serving as a witness in the trial of former leader Arturo Gallegos, members of the gang have received training from the Zetas in assassination, extortion and security. Please support our mission investigating organized crime. The attacks brought down a great deal of pressure from the US government, which issued a federal indictment of 35 Barrio Azteca members in Texas in March 2011 on counts of extortion, murder, drug trafficking and money laundering. Barrio Azteca Gang Poised for Leap into International Drug Trade Meet the Barrio Azteca gang, considered one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Texas. Galindo, Gonzales and Garcia were charged in a 12-count third superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011. [72] In November 2019, three members of La Empresa were arrested. [28] The Mexican authorities issued a money reward of $1 million pesos for anyone who could provide information that led to the arrest of the killers. Lock The motorcycle gang has roots going back to the 1960s, but only debuted on the DPS's Texas Gang Threat Assessment in 2015 after a deadly clash with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club in Waco on May 17 that left nine people dead. By the early 2000s, the gang controlled prisons in Chihuahua, and has since continued to grow. The Barrio Azteca gang is known to engage in a wide range of criminal activity including contract killing, murder, torture, drug trafficking and human trafficking among other offenses. "[36] The federal government of Mexico responded to the massacre by implementing the "Todos Somos Jurez" program, which aimed to improve education and social development, create jobs, and improve the health benefits in Ciudad Jurez. 10 facts about the Barrio Azteca, one of the most dangerous - mySA [19] It took the guards, police, and Mexican military more than three hours to put down the unrest inside the prison. A locked padlock Rta Starkien - Chief People & Culture Officer - Lewben | LinkedIn Key responsibilities: - find and book accommodation for platers/brush cutters teams. Violent Border Gang Indicted FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation The purpose of the BA-La Linea alliance was to battle the Chapo Guzman Cartel and its allies for control of the drug trafficking routes through Juarez and Chihuahua. [42] Massacres, shootings, beheadings, torture videos on YouTube, and even car bombs were recorded in Ciudad Jurez that year. Texas Mexican Mafia comes in a distant second with 4,700 members, followed by the Texas Syndicate (3,400 members), Latin Kings (2,100 members) and MS-13 (800 members). [25], Gunmen burst into a party in a small working-class neighborhood known as Villas de Salvrcar in Ciudad Jurez, killing 16 teenagers on 31 January 2010. [77] Soto was also revealed to be the leader of the La Empresa cartel at the time of his arrest, and that his successor was identified as "The Gnome. [74], In January 2020, Juarez police arrested the leader of the group's "Old Guard" fraction, Jesus Alfredo Martinez Mendoza, alias "El Freddy or El Ferro. However, it counts among its rivals some cartel heavyweights such as the Sinaloa Cartel, headed by notorious drug lordJoaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Barrio Azteca ~ Borderland Beat [75][76] On May 21, 2020, high ranking Barrio Azteca leader Jose Dolores Villegas Soto, who is known by his moniker "El Iraqui," and aliases "El Iraki" and "El Lolo," was arrested with 10 other suspected Barrio Azteca members. According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Barrio Azteca also has members in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and Texas authorities have reported a Barrio Azteca presence in New Mexico. Witnesses also testified to the Barrio Aztecas practice of extorting quota or taxes on non-BA drug dealers who sold illegal narcotics in El Paso and the greater West Texas and Eastern New Mexico area. Eduardo Ravelo - Wikipedia [43][44][45], Initial reports stated that unknown gunmen of a drug trafficking organization shot and killed a pregnant U.S. consulate woman and her husband at broad daylight in Ciudad Jurez on 13 March 2010, leaving a baby wailing in the back seat of the car. A total of 35 BA members and associates based in the United States and Mexico were charged in the third superseding indictment for allegedly committing various criminal acts, including racketeering, narcotics distribution and importation, retaliation against persons providing information to U.S. law enforcement, extortion, money laundering, obstruction of justice and murder, including the 2010 Juarez consulate murders. [30] When the Mexican authorities arrived, a large crowd gathered at the crime scene as the neighbors and family members of the victims, whose ages ranged from 15 to 20, cried and set down candles. [69] Drug-sniffing dogs were also under a bounty. Valuable assistance was provided by the Criminal Divisions Offices of International Affairs and Enforcement Operations. [46] The attack came during a violent weekend across Mexico, were nearly 50 people were killed across the country. U.S. and Mexican law enforcement are actively seeking to apprehend the two remaining fugitives in this case, including Luis Mendez and Eduardo Ravelo, an FBI Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive. These prison sentences send a strong message that even the most powerful and ruthless gangs cannot evade justice. Their leader is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted criminals.