Some of the violence was captured by a surveillance video that shows two gunmen clearing a hallway of guards before unlocking a door and allowing several triggermen to shoot inside a room where the inmates were killed. 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Specifically, during todays hearing, one witness recalled an instance in which Gonzales tried to collect an extortion fee from a New Mexico drug dealer, and when the dealer refused to pay, Gonzalez pulled a gun, put it to dealers head, and threatened to kill him. Special assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the U.S. [18], A fierce battle between rival drug trafficking organizations broke loose inside a prison on the outskirts of Ciudad Jurez on 5 March 2009. In the 2000s, the BA formed an alliance in Mexico with La Linea, which is part of the Juarez Drug (also known as the Vincente Carrillo Fuentes Drug Cartel or VCF). [35] But Caldern was widely criticized for his initial comments after the massacre, where he claimed that the investigations had showed that those killed were almost certainly targeted for being involved in organized crime. The gangs alleged leader Eduardo Ravela is on the FBIs Top Ten most wanted list. 6 on a list of border crime suspects sought by U.S. and Mexican authorities. Hector Galindo, 38, aka Silent, of El Paso, currently serving a 25-year Texas state sentence for murder, was sentenced to life prison. Barrio Azteca is one of the most violent prison gangs in the United States. Barrio Azteca Gang Poised for Leap into International Drug Trade However, the successful prosecutions of Galindo, Gonzales and Garcia, and the conviction of other Barrio Azteca members reinforce another reality: that wherever these dangerous organizations operate, DEA and its partners will aggressively follow, investigate and prosecute.. [62], In June 2020, it was reported that La Lnea was the Jurez Cartel's most powerful fraction in Ciudad Jurez. Violence in Mexico: Barrio Azteca gang leader gets 116 years in prison All 20 of the dead were members of Los Mexicles and Artistas Asesinos, indicating that the prison fight was instigated by members of the Barrio Azteca group. The gang members then beat up their victims and throw them in the hole. [68] They work day in and day out, often with a list of people to kill. Tango Blast, Aryan Brotherhood and Aryan Circle are the most active prison gangs in the region. The group also helped the Jurez Cartel to move people and drugs as well as to acquire weapons and vehicles. Barrio Azteca, a prison gang born in the Texas jail system, is becoming a major player in the Mexican underworld and the "X-factor" in the battle for Ciudad Juarez, Mexican officials told InSight Crime. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Mexico provided significant assistance in this case, including by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Davenport. [64] The "life-blood" of the gang is the drug sale, which they buy at a low cost due to their alliance with the Jurez cartel and profits from its own importation to the U.S.[64] They also tax ("quota") independent drug dealers in El Paso, in other parts of West Texas, and in the Eastern part of New Mexico. 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. 2019. We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Barrio Azteca Leader Sentenced To Life In Prison The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Divisions Organized Crime and Gang Section, Trial Attorney Brian Skaret of the Criminal Divisions Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal of the Western District of Texas - El Paso Division. [31] The relatives and witnesses interviewed after the massacre insisted that the teenagers had nothing to do with the drug trade and were "good kids. [27] Witnesses said that the cartel members arrived at the crime scene in seven cars with tinted windows, closed down the street and blocked the exits. Police: Arrested gang leader's double-cross fuels Jurez violence Its members, or soldiers, are governed by captains, various lieutenants and numerous sergeants in the United States and Mexico. Those not in good standing were targeted by the BA for assault or murder. 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. The gang expanded after 1996, due in part to increasing deportations of imprisoned Mexican criminals by the United States. [31] They gave no official statement for the motives behind the killing, but the massacre bore all the signs of the drug violence that Ciudad Jurez was living for the past three years. Testimony also indicated that the BA is well-organized and militaristic in structure. Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? Witnesses testified that Renteria was a BA Captain, the highest rank of the Barrio Azteca, and the only U.S.-based Captain not currently serving a life sentence in prison. Mexico Rehab Center Massacre Tied to Conflict Over Local Drug Trade The Barrio Azteca began in the late 1980s as a prison gang but has since expanded into a transnational criminal organization with approximately 3,500 members, including 600 active members. 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. The case was investigated by the FBIs El Paso Field Office, Albuquerque Field (Las Cruces Resident Agency), DEA Juarez and DEA El Paso. Meet the Barrio Azteca gang, considered one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Texas. According to court documents and information presented in court, Galindo was a top Lieutenant in the BA. [26] Moreover, the prison was highly overcrowded, with over 2,700 inmates in a facility with a capacity of only 850 prisoners. [54], During a boy's birthday party at the Horizontes del Sur neighborhood in Ciudad Jurez, Chihuahua, several gunmen broke into a house and killed 14 people and wounded more than a twenty on 23 October 2010. [citation needed] Numerous media outlets around the world considered Ciudad Jurez as one of the most dangerous if not the most dangerous city on the planet in 2010. 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. Galindo, Gonzales and Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO) on Jan. 26, 2012, Jan. 18, 2012, and Jan. 29, 2012, respectively. 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. 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. [12] But in Ciudad Jurez, it is one of the more than ten corpses found dead on a daily basis. Ravelo, who was under pressure from La Linea . [18] Today, the gang has expanded into a large criminal gang with presence in both the United States and Mexico, besetting by drug trafficking and human smuggling. The Barrio Azteca prison gang - which has chapters in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico - has historically been linked to the Juarez Cartel. El Paso Intelligence Center: Mexican U.S. Consulate Murderers Gang [52] The speculation of this hypothesis was bolstered by the fact that the second victim was also in a white SUV, but U.S. authorities do not discard the possibility that the gunmen were searching for someone else in the second attack and coincidentally happened to be a white vehicle too, killing the consulate workers by mistake. The power of Barrio Azteca in Jurez puts it in an advantageous position. Their members are behind the killing of a pregnant U.S. consulate and her husband. Lock According to US estimates, it had around 3,500 members in 2011. We will continue aggressively to pursue the Barrio Azteca and other gangs so that communities in the United States and Mexico can live free from the violence and destruction of organized crime. These sentences represent the FBIs commitment to the aggressive pursuit of criminal enterprises such as the Barrio Aztecas whose presence pose a significant risk to citizens on both sides of the border, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Morgan. Witnesses also testified that the sale of illegal drugs is the life-blood of the BA. At that point, the triggermen opened the doors of another room, and that is when the firing began. The gang also controls local drug distribution, extortion rackets and human smuggling in Jurez, and uses other smaller, local gangs for manpower, as well as charging other criminals to operate in its territory. We want to sustain Latin Americas largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources. Bruno Angel Rangel, 38, allegedly was a former high-ranking Barrio Azteca leader who allied himself with La Linea in the current conflict between the crime organizations, police said. [12] Some undocumented Mexicans arrested in the United States are imprisoned in Texan prisons and consequently join Barrio Azteca. [69] Drug-sniffing dogs were also under a bounty. Barrio Azteca | Detailed Pedia Ricardo Gonzales, 44, aka Cuate, of Anthony, N.M., was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and Adam Garcia, 35, aka Bad Boy, of El Paso, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The violence resulted in the deaths of 20 inmates. Evidence was presented that Gonzales and Garcia were BA soldiers, whose duties included distributing drugs, picking up money from dealers and enforcement operations within their area of responsibility. Barrio Azteca Gang Leader Sentenced in Texas to Life in Prison [33] The governor of the state of Chihuahua, Jos Reyes Baeza Terrazas, showed up at the funeral unexpectedly to pay his respects to the families. Their leader is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted criminals. [28] Some of the teenagers were shot as they tried to flee and their corpses were found in the neighboring houses. > 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. In total, the gang had an estimated 5,000 members in Juarez and 3,000 in the United States in 2013, Insight Crime reported. Gustavo "Tavo" Gallardo, formerly a leader of the Barrio Aztecas in El Paso, testified in court that long before the drug cartel wars began in 2008 in Juarez, the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel wanted to kill off the Aztecas because they were suspected of stealing millions of dollars from the cartel. Of the 35 defendants charged, 33 have been apprehended, including April Cardoza, who was found in Juarez, Mexico, last week. The most extensive database on organized crime in the Americas. WASHINGTON, D.C. - A leader and two soldiers in the Barrio (BA), a transnational border gang allied with the Juarez Cartel, were sentenced in El Paso, Texas, to life, 30 and 20 years in prison, respectively, announced DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart, and other federal officials. He is also a former fugitive wanted on several charges related to drugs and organized crime. dollars. [19] It took the guards, police, and Mexican military more than three hours to put down the unrest inside the prison. Ten of these members were specifically indicted in connection with the 2010 Consulate case. The so-called "hybrid members" allow the gangs to grow their empires with increased influence both in prisons and on the streets. Its members, or soldiers, are governed by captains, various lieutenants and numerous sergeants in the United States and Mexico. In Ciudad Jurez, however, the gang is known as Los Aztecas. FBI 10 Most Wanted fugitive, Texas Barrio Azteca gang leader arrested On June 26, members of the Mexican army and a special investigative unit arrested Eduardo . The remaining U.S.-based defendant, Ramon Renteria, aka Spooky, took his own life while in prison during his trial. However, DPS downgraded the threat posed by the Barrio Azteca gang in 2015 after considering it among the state's most violent Texas-based gangs since 2010. 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. > With a broad range of experience across engagement, performance management, HR systems, culture, learning and development . Family launches GoFundMe to help man shot during Fiesta in S.A. 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