barrio azteca leaders

[38] He confessed to the authorities that the Jurez Cartel had received reports from within the organization that members of a rival drug trafficking organization were at the party the night the teenagers were killed. RELATED:Why 'El Chapo's' beauty queen wife says she is 'afraid for his life'. The current leader of the Barrio Azteca, recognized by a majority of its members, is Mexican national Eduardo Ravelo. Barrio Azteca Gang Leader Sentenced in Texas to Life in Prison [32], One by one, the coffins of the victims were carried out from their homes on 4 February 2010, as their families demanded for justice. March 16, 2010. "[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. [38] The suspect said he acted as a lookout for the 24 gunmen that perpetrated the killing and had orders to "kill everyone inside. [24], Initial reports had stated that the massacre had started as a clash between prison gangs,[25] but the surveillance video shows "cold-blood executions," and that the members of the Barrio Azteca gang carried out the shootout without any provocation from their enemies. [52] Reportedly, the gang leaders wanted the guard dead for mistreating members of the gang in jail. The case was investigated by the FBIs El Paso Field Office, Albuquerque Field (Las Cruces Resident Agency), DEA Juarez and DEA El Paso. The gang expanded after 1996, due in part to increasing deportations of imprisoned Mexican criminals by the United States. "I never even gave the United States much thought," said one of the family members, "But Mexico has abandoned us, betrayed us. He also unveiled a billboard facing traffic in El Paso, Texas heading into Mexico that reads "No More Weapons," and criticized the United States for not renewing a ban on the sales of assault weapons that expired in 2004. To update those lists, members and other leaders would contact Galindo on his contraband prison cell phone to verify the status of persons claiming to be BA members and ensure that they were in good standing with the criminal organization. [46] The attack came during a violent weekend across Mexico, were nearly 50 people were killed across the country. Please support our mission investigating organized crime. [56] After firing more than 70 bullets, the attackers fled the scene in three different cars at around 11:00p.m.[57][58] According to the witnesses' descriptions, the attackers were teenagers who had secured the area by blocking traffic. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact. Testimony also indicated that the BA is well-organized and militaristic in structure. The gang began to directly buy large sums of cocaine from the cartel at cheaper rates, and in return the gang would buy weapons in so called straw purchases from Texan gun shops and then smuggle them across the border. Total of 24 Barrio Azteca Members and Associates Convicted to Date. Once the money is collected, the Barrio Azteca members deposit it into the bank accounts of imprisoned leaders of their own organization, often using fake names and female associates by wire transfer. [65] There are around 500 small gangs working for the Barrio Azteca and looking to earn a position by "joining the big shots. [15], On April 5, 2012, the authorities concluded that the Barrio Azteca murdered the three U.S. consulate members as part of an agreement with Jos Antonio Acosta Hernndez (El Diego), a former top lieutenant of the Jurez cartel who was imprisoned after being convicted and receiving a life sentence. During its initial years, the gang's aim was street robbery to collect funds to liberate prisoners in jail. Infighting Hurt the Barrio Aztecas Who Worked for Juarez Cartl 10 facts about the Barrio Azteca, one of the most dangerous gangs in Texas, Mark Lambie/AP Photo/El Paso Times, Mark Lambie. 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. By the early 2000s, the gang controlled prisons in Chihuahua, and has since continued to grow. They were sentenced yesterday in the Western District of Texas. According to US estimates, it had around 3,500 members in 2011. In 2011, the FBI reported that Barrio Azteca also had members in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, the FBIs 2015 National Gang Report says Barrio Azteca remained one of the most active gangs in the US border region, and will likely remain a major criminal actor for the foreseeable future. 0:36. The gang operates with a hierarchical structure similar to that of the army. Tango Blast, Aryan Brotherhood and Aryan Circle are the most active prison gangs in the region. [10] By June 2020, the Sinaloa Cartel's Los Salazar cell, and not Barrio Azteca, was the only other organized crime group which was considered on par with La Linea for control of the Ciudad Jurez drug trafficking market. WASHINGTON - A Barrio Azteca (BA) gang leader was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas, FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal [20] This massacre had come after a rare experience of 24 hours without any drug-related assassinations in Ciudad Jurez and after a large military buildup during that weekend. 6 on a list of border crime suspects sought by U.S. and Mexican authorities. The Barrio Azteca is one of the most violent prison gangs operating. Witnesses also testified to the extensive communication web of the BA, including utilizing coded letters, contraband cell phones within state and federal prison facilities, and distribution of membership rosters and hit lists. They began to recruit new inmates coming into the prison for violent gang crimes. Barrio Azteca - unitedgangs.com Barrio Azteca Leader Extradited from Mexico to United States to Face El Paso Intelligence Center: Mexican U.S. Consulate Murderers Gang [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 mastermind behind the murders, Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, received a life sentence in April 2014. 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. Lock 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. Its members, or soldiers, are governed by captains, various lieutenants and numerous sergeants in the United States and Mexico. 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. Of the 35 defendants charged, 33 have been apprehended, including April Cardoza, who was found in Juarez, Mexico, last week. Its members, or soldiers, are governed by captains, various lieutenants and numerous sergeants in the United States and Mexico. [6] The DEA estimates that about 70% of the cocaine to enter the United States does so through the area. 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. [65] They had a membership of 2,000 strong in Ciudad Jurez alone that year. Restoranas "El Barrio" | Vilnius - Facebook Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? DPS says the 2014 arrest of cartel leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes diminished the gangs influence. 2019. [24] Officials of the state of Chihuahua said they were unable to locate the five weapons used in the massacre; nonetheless, an AR-15 assault rifle, one of the weapons thought to be used in the massacre, was confiscated. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 things you need to know about the Barrio Azteca gang. [1] [12] But in Ciudad Jurez, it is one of the more than ten corpses found dead on a daily basis. The relationships between gangs and cartels are constant, but show no particular loyalties or allegiances. 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. Family launches GoFundMe to help man shot during Fiesta in S.A. 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[12] In addition, Barrio Azteca controls most of the drug sales for the Jurez Cartel in Ciudad Jurez's streets and prisons, although other gangs and independent operators abound. When they are absolved from their sentences, they are sent back across the border into Mexico, where they quickly join the gang's ranks and carry out a number of crimes. Specifically, he was the El Paso BA leader in 2010 until he was arrested on drug charges on April 30, 2010. 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. The Barrio Azteca came out of Texas prisons but has since formalized its structure to become a drug trafficking cartel. We want to sustain Latin Americas largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources. [56][61] This attack came just a week before several gunmen stormed two houses, killing 7 at a party and 2 at a nearby house. [48], The leader of Barrio Azteca, Arturo Gallegos Castrelln, better known for his nickname El Farmero, ordered the execution of two American consulate workers and a Mexican with ties to the agency in Ciudad Jurez on 13 March 2010. These command sergeants, who are not always fully-fledged members, and finally soldiers, or "indios," who are often underage and are used for the local distribution of small amounts of drugs. By 2013, it reportedly had up to 5,000 in the Jurez area alone and an estimated 3,000 in the United States. The most extensive database on organized crime in the Americas. Galindo, Gonzales and Garcia were charged in a 12-count third superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011. [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. As members of the Barrio Azteca gang, Hector Galindo, Ricardo Gonzales and Adam Garcia participated in a brutal criminal enterprise dedicated to spreading fear and violence on both sides of the border, said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. International Criminal Justice Review, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barrio_Azteca&oldid=1147392901, This page was last edited on 30 March 2023, at 17:18. "[67], Gang members in the organizations refer to each other as "carnal," a slang term for brother. The Barrio Azteca gang, also known as "Los Aztecas," was formed in the El Paso, Texas prison system in 1986. 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. Barrio Azteca Gang Poised for Leap into International Drug Trade [21], The Mexican authorities were able to militarize the area with more than 200 federal police officers, 50 soldiers, two helicopters, a plane, and an unknown number of state and municipal police forces. [59] The Mexican police declined to comment if the killing was drug-related, but Felipe Caldern's response was remarkably different from the Villas de Salvrcar massacre, where he claimed that the massacre was most likely due to internal adjustments between the cartels. 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. Eduardo "Richolm" Ravelo (born October 13, 1968) is a Mexican American gangster who was a leader of the Barrio Azteca gang. They often use the letters "BA" or numbers "21" as their identifying symbols and tattoos. [70] Several other members of the Barrio Azteca were arrested with Ravelo as well. On June 26, members of the Mexican army and a special investigative unit arrested Eduardo . Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. A principal enemy is the Sinaloa Cartel, along with its subcontractor, the Mexicles gang. The remaining U.S.-based defendant, Ramon Renteria, aka Spooky, took his own life while in prison during his trial. [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. [16] In the year 2005, an informant and former lieutenant of the gang testified that Ravelo was looking for a man who had stolen goods from the Jurez cartel. New foe in U.S. drug war: Mexican assassins - NBC News "[26] Their reports state that the inmates had broken the rules of the jail and held large parties, possibly with the guards' permission. 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The. Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? Barrio Azteca is one of the most violent prison gangs in the United States. Week 1: Barrio Aztecas U.S.Consulate Murder Trial [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. 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. The Barrio Azteca was able to quickly grow in large numbers without much problems. Our prosecution of the Barrio Azteca gang, including for the U.S. Consulate-related murders in Juarez, Mexico, in 2010, has led to convictions against 24 gang members and leaders. 10 facts about the Barrio Azteca, one of the most dangerous - mySA Witnesses also testified that the sale of illegal drugs is the life-blood of the BA. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Witnesses also testified to the extensive communication web of the BA, including utilizing coded letters, contraband cell phones within state and federal prison facilities, and distribution of membership rosters and hit lists. 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. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS [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, 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 gang also allies with other gangs including the Mexican Mafia and MS-13. [3] The gang was formed in the jails of El Paso in 1986 and expanded into a transnational criminal organization. [citation needed], The Mexican authorities concluded that there were two possible explanations for the massacre: Either La Lnea and Barrio Azteca were responsible for the killings; or "independent gunmen" paid to kill a person nicknamed El Ratn, an alleged member of Artistas Asesinos. 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. 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. Testimony also indicated that the BA is well-organized and militaristic in structure. [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. To update those lists, members and other leaders would contact Galindo on his contraband prison cell phone to verify the status of persons claiming to be BA members and ensure that they were in good standing with the criminal organization. WASHINGTON A leader and two soldiers in the Barrio Azteca (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 Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas, FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Morgan of the FBIs El Paso Office and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Initially formed in El Paso jails in 1986, the Barrio Azteca gang expanded to a transnational criminal organization, allying itself with the Juarez Cartel (pictured). Because of the BAs alliance with the Juarez Drug Cartel, the gang receives illegal drugs at low cost and profits on its importation, sale and distribution within the United States. Knocking Down Barrio Azteca | Police Magazine [11], The Barrio Azteca gang was formed in the jails of El Paso in 1986 and gained an image of being a tough and loyal gang willing to commit murder of civilians in order to keep fear in the minds of its members and ensure their loyalty/obedience. "[10] Members usually have U.S. citizenship, making them ideal cross-border killers able to move back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border. RELATED:21 alleged members of drug cartel-affiliated Barrio Azteca gang arrested in West Texas. [70] Ravelo, who was also on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list,[70] is believed to have been in charge of the gang's operations in Jurez. The Barrio Azteca was organized in the El Paso, Texas, County Jail in 1987 from where it moved to the streets and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison system. Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Despite US efforts, the gang has apparently regained strength, and maintains significant power in Jurez, particularly as the power of the Jurez Cartel has declined. [64] Officials on both sides of the border have observed how Barrio Azteca locate their targets, stalk them and finally ambush them in multiple car chases, using coded radio communications, coordinated blocking maneuvers, and with well-trained shooters wearing ski masks and body armor. The gang's key ally is the Jurez Cartel and its armed wing, La Linea. The case was investigated by the FBIs El Paso Field Office, Albuquerque Field Office (Las Cruces Resident Agency), DEA Juarez and DEA El Paso. 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. The list of 10+ barrio azteca tattoo meanings

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