The Barrio Azteca came out of Texas prisons but has since formalized its structure to become a drug trafficking cartel. He also participated in the BA's activities by distributing narcotics, including heroin and cocaine, and collected extortion funds that were . Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo had been wanted for . Testimony also indicated that the BA is well-organized and militaristic in structure. 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. Hector Galindo, 38, aka "Silent," of El Paso, currently serving a 25-year Texas state sentence for murder, was sentenced to life in prison. [64] To prevent officers from understanding their communication network, Barrio Azteca also created a secret language based on Nahuatl. [40] A gang leader of Barrio Azteca also admitted to have ordered the massacre because he thought rival gang members were there. Of the 35 defendants charged, 33 have been apprehended, including April Cardoza, who was found in Juarez, Mexico, last week. Main tasks to coordinate the process of employees accommodation and logistics. They were sentenced yesterday in the Western District of Texas. [51] After the arrest of a suspect in connection with the killings, the gang member said that Barrio Azteca was pursuing a guard from the El Paso County Jail and not the U.S. officials, but this information has not been confirmed. Todays sentencing by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of the Western District Court of Texas marks the closure of the case against the U.S.-based defendants charged in the superseding indictment. 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. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Mexico Rehab Center Massacre Tied to Conflict Over Local Drug Trade 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. Many of the members are in U.S. and Mexican prisons and. 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. 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. March 16, 2010. 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 . [38] The suspect said he acted as a lookout for the 24 gunmen that perpetrated the killing and had orders to "kill everyone inside. [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. 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. [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. By 1996, the Barrio Azteca had grown to become the one of the most powerful criminal enterprises of southern Texas. [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. [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. [20] 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. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 facts you need to know about the Texas-Mexico border gang. Their leader is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted criminals. All of these factors create a very real possibility that, if the gang were to gain control over US-bound drug shipments moving through Jurez, Barrio Azteca could move into full-blown international drug trafficking. [26] Moreover, the prison was highly overcrowded, with over 2,700 inmates in a facility with a capacity of only 850 prisoners. [20] One report issued by Los Angeles Times stated that members of Barrio Azteca stole the keys of a prison guard and were able to free their cohorts and begin a rampage in cells controlled by their rival groups. 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. 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. 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.
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