| Founded | 1986[1] |
|---|---|
| Founding location | El Paso, Texas, United States[1] |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Territory | Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Chihuahua[1] |
| Ethnicity | Mexican and Mexican American[2] |
| Membership (est.) | 8,000[1] |
| Activities | Drug trafficking, human trafficking, arson, murder, assault, auto theft, burglary, extortion, intimidation, kidnapping and robbery[2] |
| Allies | Juárez Cartel[1] La Línea[1] |
| Rivals | Los Mexicles[1] Sinaloa Cartel Border Brothers[1] |
| Notable members | Eduardo Ravelo |
Barrio Azteca (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbarjo asˈteka]), or Los Aztecas (pronounced [los asˈtekas]), is a Mexican-American street and prison gang originally based in El Paso, Texas, USA and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.[3] The gang was formed in the Coffield Unit, located near Tennessee Colony, Texas by Jose "Raulio" Rivera, a prisoner from El Paso, in the early 1980s.[4] It expanded into a transnational criminal organization that traded mainly across the US-Mexico border.[5][6][7] Currently one of the most violent gangs in the United States,[8] they are said to have over 3,000 members across the country in locations such as New Mexico, Texas, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania as well as at least 5,000 members in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.[9]
In 2008, Barrio Azteca formed an alliance with La Línea, the armed wing of the Juárez Cartel, to fight off the forces of the Sinaloa Cartel, who were attempting to take over the drug smuggling routes in the area.[7] Control of the routes in Ciudad Juárez, known as the "Juárez plaza," is vital for drug trafficking organizations, since they are a major illicit conduit into the United States.[7][4] The DEA estimates that about 70% of the cocaine to enter the United States does so through the area.[10] The gang's primary source of income derives from smuggling drugs across the border from Mexico to the United States. They are also responsible for the distribution and sale of narcotics both in and outside prisons. Besides drug trafficking, they have been charged with a medley of different crimes.[8]
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."[11] Members may either be US or Mexican citizens. Most of the violence associated with the gang occurs in Mexico.[4][11] By June 2020, the Sinaloa Cartel's Los Salazar cell, and not Barrio Azteca, was the only other organized crime group which was considered on par with La Linea for control of the Ciudad Juárez drug trafficking market.[12]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Barrio Azteca InSight Crime (July 9, 2018)
- ^ a b Prison Gangs justice.gov (May 11, 2015)
- ^ Gundur, R. V. (2020). "Negotiating Violence and Protection in Prison and on the Outside: The Organizational Evolution of the Transnational Prison Gang Barrio Azteca - R. V. Gundur, 2020". International Criminal Justice Review. 30: 30–60. doi:10.1177/1057567719836466. S2CID 150955479.
- ^ a b c Gundur, R. V. (2022). Trying to make it: the enterprises, gangs, and people of the American drug trade. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-6447-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Barrio Azteca - InSight Crime". 27 March 2017.
- ^ "Background: Barrio Azteca gang". El Paso Times. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Barrio Azteca Leader Gets Life in Prison". KETK-TV. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
- ^ a b Potter 2010, p. 495.
- ^ Dudley, Steven (13 February 2013). "Cartel de Azteca G Poised for Leap into International Drug Trade". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "Colombian Trafficker with Links to Mexican and Colombian Cartels Extradited from Mexico to the United States". Drug Enforcement Administration. 17 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ a b Lacey, Marc (18 March 2010). "Raids Aim to Find Killers of 3 in Mexico". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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