Two alleged members of Barrio Azteca (BA), a gang linked to the Juarez Cartel, have been extradited from Mexico to the United States to face charges in connection with the 2010 murders of U.S. Consulate employees in Juarez, officials stated.
Eduardo Ravelo, also known as Tablas, and Enrique Guajardo Lopez, known as Kiki, arrived in the U.S. on Feb. 20 and appeared in court Monday in the Western District of Texas.
Ravelo, a former FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive, and Guajardo were indicted in a 12-count case unsealed in March 2011, according to authorities.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
“The extradition of these two members of the Barrio Azteca transnational criminal organization brings us another step closer to justice for the victims of the 2010 U.S. Consulate murders in Juarez,” said Acting Administrator Derek S. Maltz of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “DEA never forgets and we never give up. Our commitment to pursue the members of violent criminal organizations threatening American lives is as strong as ever, and our message is clear — DEA will use every resource we have to get justice for American lives lost as a result of these violent networks.”
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.
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, the BA 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). 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 gang has a militaristic command structure and includes captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and soldiers — all with the purpose of maintaining power and enriching its members and associates through drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, intimidation, violence, threats of violence, and murder.
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.