EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Two alleged members of Barrio Azteca, a transnational criminal organization allied with the Juarez Cartel, were extradited from Mexico to the United States to face charges related to the 2010 murders of U.S. Consulate employees in Juarez.
That’s according to the U.S. Justice Department, which sent out a news release on Monday, Feb. 24 about the extraditions.
Eduardo Ravelo, also known as Tablas, Tablero, and T-Blas, and Enrique Guajardo Lopez, also known as Kiki, arrived in the United States on Thursday, Feb. 20, and made their initial appearances Monday in the Western District of Texas.
Ravelo, a former FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive, and Guajardo were charged in a 12-count third superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011, the Justice Department said.
“The defendants allegedly participated in the murder of three U.S. Consulate employees in Mexico in March 2010, along with many other acts of senseless violence,” Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “No U.S. citizen, on either side of our border with Mexico, should have to live in fear of Barrio Azteca, any other violent border gang, or any drug cartel. The defendants’ extradition to the United States is an example of the Department’s unwavering commitment to eliminating transnational criminal organizations and the pursuit of justice for the victims of those tragic murders in Juarez, Mexico.”
Acting U.S. Attorney for West Texas Margaret Leachman said: “The extradition and U.S. custody of these two defendants, who are both alleged to be members of Barrio Azteca operating along the border, is essential to our mission of disrupting and dismantling these dangerous criminal organizations. With the help of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, this U.S. Attorney’s Office will aggressively prosecute Ravelo and Guajardo throughout this case for their alleged participation in the 2010 Consulate murders and other gang related activity.”
A total of 35 Barrio Azteca 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, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Of the 35 defendants, 10 Mexican nationals, including Ravelo and Guajardo, were charged with the March 13, 2010, murders in Juarez of U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton; her husband, Arthur Redelfs; and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee.
All the defendants have been apprehended, and 28 have pleaded guilty. Three defendants have been convicted at trial, one committed suicide before the conclusion of his trial, and one is awaiting extradition from Mexico.
According to court documents and evidence presented at co-defendant trials, Barrio Azteca is a violent street and prison gang that began in the late 1980s and expanded into a transnational criminal organization.
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), according to the Justice Department.
“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. 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.” the Justice Department said.
According to court documents, Ravelo and Guajardo participated in BA activities, including narcotics trafficking and acts of violence by BA members, both in Mexico and the United States. If convicted, Ravelo and Guajardo each face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
Ravelo’s and Guajardo’s extraditions are the result of “close coordination” between U.S. law enforcement and the government of Mexico in the investigation and prosecution of this case, the Justice Department said.
The cooperation and assistance of the government of Mexico was essential to achieving successful extraditions, the Justice Department added.
The FBI El Paso Field Office; FBI Albuquerque Field Office, Las Cruces Resident Agency; Drug Enforcement Administration Juarez Division; and DEA El Paso Division investigated the case.
Special assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Federal Bureau of Prisons; U.S. Diplomatic Security Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; El Paso Police Department; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office; El Paso Independent School District Police Department; Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission; New Mexico State Police; Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office; Las Cruces Police Department; Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility; and Otero County Prison Facility.
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