barrio azteca leaders
The so-called "hybrid members" allow the gangs to grow their empires with increased influence both in prisons and on the streets. The Barrio Azteca gang emerged in Texas prisons, later served as armed support to the Jurez Cartel, and has since evolved to control local drug trafficking in Jurez. [62], In June 2020, it was reported that La Lnea was the Jurez Cartel's most powerful fraction in Ciudad Jurez. 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. 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. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact. 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. 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. Some, however, are beheaded. About. [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. Their members are behind the killing of a pregnant U.S. consulate and her husband. Inside and outside of prison, the gang thrives on violence - from gang beatings to drive-by shootings to murder - all in order to discipline its own members or fight against rivals. Despite being armed, they seem to follow the orders of the gang members without any resistance. [68] They work day in and day out, often with a list of people to kill. [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. He allegedly pays his sicarios (hitmen) less than 500 pesos (or about $40 U.S. dollars) a week to carry out assassinations. 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. [34], Four days after the massacre, a suspect identified as Jos Dolores Arroyo Chavarra was arrested by the Mexican military. During its initial years, the gang's aim was street robbery to collect funds to liberate prisoners in jail. [68] Ciudad Jurez is filled with safe houses, armories and garages with stolen cars for the cartel members and assassins to use. [21] The exact reasons for the massacre are unknown, but the feud between Barrio Azteca and Artistas Asesinos runs deep, and they often fight for the control of drugs, guns, and other illicit contrabands inside prisons. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 things you need to know about the Barrio Azteca gang. 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. Des Linden unveils new book, shares race day must-haves. As Barrio Azteca grew in power, it began to work directly with the Juarez Cartel and their alliance grew stronger. A cross-border drug gang born in the prison cells of Texas has evolved into a sophisticated paramilitary killing machine. 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. [20] "[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. In the 2000s, the BA formed an alliance in Mexico with La Linea, which is part of the Juarez Drug Cartel (also known as the Vincente Carrillo Fuentes Drug Cartel or VCF). [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. 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. Many of the members are in U.S. and Mexican prisons and. By the early 2000s, the gang controlled prisons in Chihuahua, and has since continued to grow. They began to recruit new inmates coming into the prison for violent gang crimes. [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. [42] Massacres, shootings, beheadings, torture videos on YouTube, and even car bombs were recorded in Ciudad Jurez that year. 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. The violence resulted in the deaths of 20 inmates. The United States has sanctioned four suspected members of Mexicos powerful CJNG cartel, alleging that they controlled drug operations at, The Chapitos are winning the internal war for the Sinaloa Cartel and doing it in a different way than their, A package bomb that killed a restaurateur and his manager underscores the escalating use of explosives and the terror, This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by theAssociated Pressabout connections between theex-FARC mafiaand Brazilian criminal groups, and, As Ecuadors security crisis worsens, global media outlets have called on InSight Crime to provide expert knowledge on the criminal dynamics fueling the growing criminality.Americas Quarterly cited our work on, InSight Crime senior investigator Douwe den Held was interviewed by Chilean newspaperEl Mercuriothis week. [54][55] Mendez, who was the El Paso FBI office's most wanted fugitive and the last person sought for the attacks, also made La Empresa a hybrid of Barrio Azteca. 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. [65] In March 2010, the FBI and the police department in El Paso stated that Barrio Azteca was more powerful than Los Zetas in the Jurez plaza. 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. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 facts you need to know about the Texas-Mexico border gang. [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. Galindo, Gonzales and Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO) on Jan. 26, 2012, Jan. 18, 2012, and Jan. 29, 2012, respectively. In that role, Galindo maintained communication with other BA Captains and Lieutenants in the United States and Mexico and was specifically in charge of BA operations in Texas. [63] In and outside of prison, from gang beatings to drive-by shootings, Barrio Azteca disciplines its own members and rivals. They were sentenced yesterday in the Western District of Texas. 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. The most extensive database on organized crime in the Americas. This is a carousel. While incarcerated in the Texas Department of Corrections, he served as the right hand man to BA Captain Manuel Cardoza. 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. [7], The gang, which operates in the U.S. and Mexico, has morphed into a prime example of the "cross-border nature of Mexico's drug war. [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. [13] They are alleged by the Mexican authorities to have committed numerous brutal assassinations in the city, although the exact numbers are unknown. Valuable assistance was provided by the Criminal Divisions Offices of International Affairs and Enforcement Operations. The Barrio Azteca (Spanish pronunciation: [barjo asteka]), or Los Aztecas (pronounced [los astekas]), is a Mexican-American street, and prison gang originally based in El Paso, Texas.The gang was formed in the jails of El Paso in 1986 and expanded into a transnational criminal organization. 2019. [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. Those not in good standing were targeted by the BA for assault or murder. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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.
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