DEA announced Tuesday the arrests of Midland-Odessa area members and one associate member of the El Paso-based Barrio Azteca criminal organization on federal drug charges.
The charges stem from a 18-month-long investigation into the organization's alleged racketeering activities including extortion, drug distribution, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and the attempted murder of a Midland resident in October 2009.
Barrio Azteca members Frederico Duran, Jr., 27; Miguel Nieto, 31; and associate member Venessa Rico Flores, 29, were arrested Tuesday.
Santos Almanza, 32; Benito Gonzalez, 46; Stephen Marcos Corona, 34; Carlos Hernandez, 40; and Juan Cortez, 32, already were in custody and also are named as co-defendants in the indictment.
A three-count federal grand jury indictment, returned on June 22 and unsealed Tuesday, charges the nine defendants with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine as well as marijuana. The indictment also charges Almanza, Flores, Nieto and Hernandez with one count of violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute and one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO statute.
The indictment alleges that since January 2006, the defendants have conspired to carry out the mission of the BA criminal organization through a pattern of smuggling and distributing cocaine and marijuana, robbery, extortion, as well as violence and intimidation in and around the Midland-Odessa area.
The indictment states that defendants Duran, Morales and Almanza were the leaders of the Midland-Odessa Barrio Azteca enterprise who directed other members in carrying out the mission of the organization. Among the various overt acts charged, the indictment specifically alleges that Almanza unlawfully and knowingly attempted to murder a Midland resident on or about Oct. 20, 2009. The indictment also alleges that defendants Almanza, Flores, Nieto and Hernandez each agreed to commit at least two acts of racketeering activity while conducting the affairs of the criminal organization.
"Citizens of the Midland-Odessa area should be able to live without fear and intimidation by violent street gangs," said Joseph M. Arabit, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration-El Paso Division. "The results of this investigation send a strong message to those who would threaten the safety of our communities that we will use all tools available to us, including drug and racketeering laws, to put an end to their illegal activities."
If convicted, each defendant could face up to life in federal prison.
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