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Barrio Azteca Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy in Texas
A member of the notorious Barrio Azteca (BA) gang has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in El Paso, Texas.
Jorge Diaz, 33, aka "Payaso," and "Narizon," pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert J. Garney in the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.
According to court documents, Diaz is a member of the BA, which began in the late 1980s as a violent prison gang and has expanded into a transnational criminal organization.
The BA is primarily based in West Texas; Juarez, Mexico; and throughout state and federal prisons in the United States and Mexico.
According to the plea agreement, for more than a year, Diaz maintained extortion fees provided to him by other BA members based on fees they charged drug dealers operating on BA turf.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Trial Attorney Brian Skaret of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with special assistance provided by the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Diaz will receive a prison term of 20 years, if approved by U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone.
The BA profits by importing heroin, cocaine, and marijuana into the United States from Mexico.
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.
Members and associates of the BA have engaged in a host of criminal activity committed since January 1, 2003, including drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, kidnapping, and murder.
The BA was involved in the March 13, 2010, murders in Juarez of U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, her husband Arthur Redelf, and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of a U.S. Consulate employee.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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