To
Contents
To Previous Page
To Next Page
To Publications
Page
To Home Page
U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
New Mexico HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
May 2010
Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the most pervasive organizational threats in the New Mexico HIDTA region, exerting nearly total control over drug trafficking operations throughout the area. Most of these organizations are closely aligned with the Juárez and Sinaloa Cartels, which control drug smuggling activities in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, just south of the HIDTA region. Conflicts between these cartels as they vie for control of drug trafficking in the El Paso/Juárez plaza have resulted in a substantial increase in drug-related violence in the state of Chihuahua. (See text box.) Since 2008, these cartels have also been in conflict with the increased Mexican military and law enforcement presence in Chihuahua, particularly in Juárez, adding to the violence in the region. Many traffickers avoid smuggling drug loads through the plaza out of fear that they may lose their shipments to rival organizations or law enforcement.
|
Drug-Related Violence in Chihuahua Drug-related violence in Mexico has intensified over the past 5 years, with significant increases in drug-related killings in 2008 and 2009. Drug-related violence in Mexico is concentrated in states that are critical to the production and trafficking of drugs. In 2008, the state of Chihuahua--where the El Paso/Juárez plaza is located--accounted for 1,649 drug-related killings, nearly one-third of those reported in Mexico. In 2009, the number increased significantly to 2,082 killings, accounting for 31 percent of all drug-related killings in Mexico. Most drugs smuggled into the New Mexico HIDTA region from Mexico are smuggled through the areas in and around Juárez, where Mexico's drug-related violence is highly concentrated. According to the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, the varied geographic patterns of violence in Mexico are the result of the fractionalization of organized groups, changing structures of political-bureaucratic corruption, and recent government efforts to crack down on organized crime (through military deployments and the disruption of DTO leadership structures). Source: University of San Diego, Trans-Border Institute. |
Law enforcement officials supporting New Mexico HIDTA initiatives arrested members of 136 DTOsb in 2009, down from 231 DTOs in 2008. Most of the arrests in 2009 involved Mexican (69), Hispanic (62), Mexican American (43), or Caucasian (30) criminals involved in international (50), multistate (41), or local (45) drug trafficking operations. Many of the criminals were polydrug traffickers who most often distributed methamphetamine (71), cocaine (57), marijuana (51), heroin (15), controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) (6), or MDMA (2).
Prison gangs, street gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) smuggle, transport, and distribute illicit drugs and commit violent crimes in the New Mexico HIDTA region. According to NDTS 2010 data, most law enforcement agencies indicate that street gang involvement in drug distribution activity is moderate or high and that OMG involvement is low or does not occur. (See Appendix B for data by county.) Mexican DTOs have forged associations with some members of these gangs to smuggle illicit drugs from Mexico into New Mexico. The Barrio Azteca prison gang (most prominent in El Paso and Las Cruces) is the greatest gang threat to the New Mexico HIDTA region because of the gang's propensity for violence and connections to violent Mexican cartels. (See text box.) Some other noteworthy prison and street gangs active in New Mexico are the West Siders (Sunland Park, New Mexico) and Los Carnales prison gangs and the Brew Town Locos (Albuquerque), Los Sureños and Juaritos (central New Mexico), 72 Gang (Colonia Anapra, Chihuahua), Los Demonos (Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua), Memphis Boys, Los Padillas, and Servalle Pajarito (south of Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico) street gangs. OMGs operating in the region include Bandidos (Chaparral) and Hells Angels (Albuquerque).
|
Barrio Azteca Barrio Azteca, one of the most violent prison gangs in the United States, is the most significant gang operating in the southern portion of the New Mexico HIDTA. The gang, based in El Paso and Juárez, transports and distributes drugs in southern New Mexico, particularly in Dona Ana County. The gang's income is derived from smuggling heroin, powder cocaine, and marijuana from Mexico into the United States for distribution both inside and outside prisons. Barrio Azteca members are also involved in alien smuggling, arson, assault, auto theft, burglary, extortion, intimidation, kidnapping, robbery, and weapons violations. For example, in January 2010, three teenagers who were alleged Barrio Azteca members violently killed a 19-year-old Texas man at a visitors' center south of Las Cruces after he refused to give them his wallet. Barrio Azteca members, in association with the Juárez Cartel, are also involved in many of the homicides occurring in Juárez. In March 2010, Barrio Azteca gang members were implicated in the deaths of a U.S. Consulate employee in Juárez, her husband, and a detention officer with the El Paso County Sheriff's Department. In response to these killings, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with numerous other federal, state, and local agencies, initiated Operation Knock Down, in which more than 300 members or associates of the gang were identified and interviewed to generate more information related to the murders and the gang's activities. The operation has resulted in more than 50 arrests thus far, along with seizures of drugs, currency, and weapons. This will likely have an impact on the gang's criminal operations in the New Mexico HIDTA region. Source: New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; Drug Enforcement Administration. |
b. Three of these trafficking groups specialized in money laundering.
UNCLASSIFIED
End of page.