EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A former Barrio Azteca leader was sentenced last week to 12 years in federal prison for narcotic smuggling operations from Juarez to El Paso, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, in a news release.
Salvador Garcia-Garcia, aka Ardilla, 56, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was responsible for coordinating the shipment of heroin from Juarez to El Paso for the Barrio Azteca organization, according to court documents.
Garcia-Garcia conducted the narcotics smuggling operations from Juarez from Aug. 1, 2010, through on or about Sept. 10, 2014, recruiting other members and associates to smuggle the heroin into El Paso for him.
On Sept. 10, 2014, Garcia-Garcia was indicted for seven counts, including conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, murder in aid of racketeering activity, three separate drug trafficking charges, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and transferring a firearm to a prohibited person, according to the news release.
He was arrested by federal authorities on June 20, 2024, and pleaded guilty to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) charge on April 7.
A total of 18 of Garcia-Garcia’s co-defendants have been sentenced in the case since 2016.
In June 2017, Barrio Azteca leader Juan Pablo Espino was dealt concurrent sentences of over 24 years and 20 years of imprisonment for one count of conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and one count of money laundering, according to the news release.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the El Paso Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steve Spitzer and Antonio Franco prosecuted the case.
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