Juarez Cartel Gangs Are Similar, Also Have Big Differences

Although affiliated with one another, U.S. gang intel officials say El Paso’s Barrio Azteca gang and Juarez’s Los Azteca are two very different criminal organizations.

Anti- gang officials say each gang has it’s own chain of command, and their own way’s of doing their business independent of each other.

Gang Intel officials in El Paso told us in an exclusive special report in 2009 that the Barrio Azteca gang in El Paso originally came from a group of inmates withing the Texas Department of Corrections. As the members grew in numbers so did the Barrio Azteca’s strength. Authorities say it was that rapid growth that spawned the creation of Los Azteca in Juarez.

At least one of the similarities between the two organizations is that as of recent both have been used by the Juarez Cartel as hired guns where members of both gangs have been contracted to carry out jobs of crime for the Juarez Cartel.