SPECIAL REPORT: Gangs Behind Bars, Part 2

By ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Ken Molestina

EL PASO COUNTY –Its birthplace was in the correctional system and its members havebeen called business criminals.Now,they’ve become one of the most recognized names in the Sun City’s underworld.

They’re the Barrio Azteca Gang, a brotherhood that formed in the Texas prison system beginning in the mid-80’s. Their purpose was to protect one another in and out of the prison system.

“They started calling themselves the Barrio Aztecas to try and fool the prison guards into thinking they were just another street gang,” said Jeff Gibson, with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. He’s seen the gang evolve from its conception as a raw group of prison inmates to an organized criminal entity.

Gibson said their hierarchy mimics that of a military organization with lieutenants calling the shots, and lower-ranking soldierscarrying out missions inspired by the spirit of Aztec warriors.

The ganggot into organized crime fueled by a desire to make money from drugs.

“They’re pretty much in the business of extortions and intimidations,” Detention Officer Jose Soria. “Here in the jails they try torun the pods and the cells.”

When members finish out their time behind bars, theyoften go back out into El Paso communities with the same allegiance to the gang they joined while incarcerated.

Their activities are now in the sphere of what inmates call the “free world.” “Theyhave missions, many have to carry out assaults,[transport] drugs from point A to point B, whatever the job may be,” Gibson said.

“If you want to beat somebody up you have to ask for permission,” said an ex-Azteca member.

Loyalty and respect for one another is something gang members swear by and detention officers know that. “There has to be some kind of compromise and a lot of it has to do with respect,” said Soria. “Barrio Azteca … they can be violent if they want to and officers are always on their toes.”

Officer such as Soria stay alert by keeping up with the gang and its tactics. They know members will remain active while in their custody.

Inmates are locked up 23 hours of the day and they still have to find a way to communicate.Detention officers say theydo it with devices known as kites –small pieces of paper with encoded messages that are passed through little holes in the walls and doors of the facility.

It was through a kite that a hit onan inmate was recently ordered. Investigators say the inmate probably violated some form of code within the gang.

Gang intelligence officials sayBarrio Aztecahas spread way beyond El Paso’s city limits to 15 other states. And their ways of wheeling and dealing are always changing. “They have some very sophisticated methods of getting the job done,” said Gibson. “They’ve been continually active and simply shift tactics as they learn of our methods.”

However, law enforcement can now claim a major victory.

Federal prosecutors used theRacketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)to go after some of the highest ranking members of the gang. The RICO Act is a federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

Under RICO, a person who is a member of a criminal organizationthat has committed anyof severalcrimes punishable by state and federal lawwithin a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prisonfor eachracketeering count.

The arrestsdealt two blows to the organization.First, their top leaders were sentenced last month to life in prison on racketeering charges. Second,gang intelligence officials say distrust and rattling within the gang led somemembers to snitch.

Even the highest leader in the gang, Benjamin “T-Top” Alvarez knew members were giving up confidential information. An inmate at the gang told ABC-7 he recently spoke to Alvarez while in prison. “Last year, when I got arrested I talked to him personally and he was the one that told me: ‘chingado carnal, everybody is opening up.'”

Still, many know it’s not the end of the gang.

“They’ll probably lay low for a little bit, but there’s still some ‘old-schools’ that are going to come out,” said another inmate.

The gang’sintention to run jail gang populations is an everyday reality for officers at the annex.

“Trying to learn how a criminal organization is operating is a real challenge,” said Gibson.

It’s a challenge that is always evolving.

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