Tri-City Bombers Gang Members Indicted on Racketeering Charges in Texas

A 27-count superseding indictment was unsealed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas against 25 Tri-City Bombers (TCB) gang members and associates in a conspiracy involving racketeering, drug distribution, money laundering, robbery, and discharge of a firearm resulting in death.

According to court documents, the TCB is a national gang active in multiple states that was formed in the early 1980s in the Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo areas of South Texas. TCB has an organized decision-making hierarchy, including a person in charge of each city, and leaders within the organization who determined whether its members violated the gang’s rule and deserved punishment.

The scope of the TCB’s crimes is wide-ranging and consistent in its nationwide operation. The RICO conspiracy charged here includes murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, firearms crimes, money laundering, and other crimes in furtherance of the organization’s enterprise.

The indictment alleges that from January 2009 and continuing through March 2017, TCB members and associates engaged in a variety of racketeering activities, including murder, attempted murder, robbery, and drug trafficking. TCB members and associates allegedly coordinated the transportation and sale of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin from South Texas to Atlanta, Georgia, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, St. Louis, Missouri, and other cities nationwide.

The 19 defendants charged for their alleged roles in the RICO conspiracy are Mike Bueno, aka Mocho, 45, of Edinburg/Alamo; Eduardo Hernandez, aka Lepo, 36, Joseph Alberto Lopez, 33, and Joshua Omar Santillan, 35, all of Donna; Arturo Ramirez Jr., aka China, 41, of Weslaco/San Juan; Jose Rolando Gonzalez, aka Rollie, 38, of Alton; Ernesto Alonzo Ruiz, aka Gallito, 38, of Raymondville; Hipolito Gonzalez, aka Pollie, 34, of Mission; Luis Antonio Saldivar, aka Flaco, 25, of Mission; Israel Gonzalez, aka Rayo, 34, of Pharr; Rolando Cruz, aka Party, 45, of Edinburg/Mission; Jesus Silva, aka Bola, 42, of San Juan; Carlos de la Rosa, aka Charlie, 40, of San Juan; Octavio Muniz, aka Tavo, 40, of Pharr/Edinburg; Margil Reyna, Jr., aka Mikeo, 32, formerly of Alamo, now of Toledo, Ohio; Roberto Cortez, aka Robe, 35, of Pharr/San Juan; Rene Vela, aka Gordo, 47, of Edinburg/McAllen; Ernesto Saenz, aka Tuerto, 26, of McAllen; and Luis Alberto Tello, aka Wicho, 36, of Mercedes.

In addition, Daniel Saenz, 32, of Donna, is charged with multiple racketeering conspiracy offenses, including racketeering, murder, attempted murder, robbery, and the possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute.

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