Arrested El Paso CBP Officer Was Allegedly a La Linea Cartel Member

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
From an El Paso Times Article by Daniel Borunda

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer allegedly involved in migrant smuggling on the El Paso border was allegedly a member of a Mexican drug cartel, a federal agent testified.

A federal magistrate judge ordered CBP Officer Manuel Perez Jr., 32, of El Paso, to remain jailed without bond at a detention hearing Thursday, Feb. 13, in federal court in Downtown El Paso. Perez is allegedly a member of the La Linea drug cartel.

Perez was fired from CBP after his arrest on federal human and drug smuggling charges on Feb. 8 by the FBI El Paso West Texas Border Corruption Task Force following a multi-agency investigation, court officials said. If convicted, he could face 10 years up to life in prison.

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Sinaloa cartel member arrested by ICE in Texas: sources. January 27, 2025

"Char" for Borderland Beat 

Thanks to "Nuffy" for sending the story

This information was posted by Greg Norman Alexis McAdams 

Author: Fox News

Date: January 27 2025

Time: 2:28 est

Sinaloa cartel member arrested by ICE in Texas: sources

Multiple rifles, pistols and thousands of rounds of ammo found during El Paso arrest

A member of the Sinaloa cartel was arrested in Texas by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the weekend and was found to be carrying three rifles, two pistols and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

The individual — who is from Mexico — was taken into custody in El Paso, the sources added. Across the U.S., ICE operations this past weekend resulted in more than 1,000 arrests.

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last year that the U.S. is facing the "most dangerous and deadly drug crisis" in its history with fentanyl and methamphetamine flowing across the border — and that the "Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels are at the heart of this crisis." 

"They operate clandestine labs in Mexico where they manufacture these drugs and then utilize their vast distribution networks to transport the drugs into the United States," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram wrote in her agency’s annual National Drug Threat Assessment.

"The Sinaloa Cartel also uses border tunnels to cross drugs into the United States undetected," she added. "Most of the tunnels are not built by the cartel but are part of the border cities’ sewage and water systems." 

Last week, alleged Sinaloa cartel cell leader Octavio Leal-Hernandez, who "is believed responsible for trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana into the United States from Mexico," entered a not guilty plea during a federal court appearance following his extradition from Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said. 

The alleged Sinaloa member’s arrest in El Paso comes as reports are also emerging that the Trump administration is pushing ICE to increase the number of arrests per day from a few hundred to between at least 1,200 to 1,500 people.  

Citing four sources who spoke on condition of anonymity about a purported internal call with ICE officials on Saturday, The Washington Post first reported about the new objective, categorizing the 1,200 to 1,500 daily targets as "quotas," although a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News, "Goals is the correct phrasing." 

Source: FOXNEWS 

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Video: Hundreds of Migrants Rush Past National Guard at El Paso, Texas Border

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

Videos posted to social media showed several hundred migrants rushing past Texas National Guard and wire barricades to reach the border fence in El Paso, Texas. 

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Shots fired from Juárez hit El Paso City Hall

By Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times

Police said the bullet flew through the window, then through an interior wall before hitting a picture frame and stopping.

El Paso, Texas - Several gunshots apparently fired from Juárez hit El Paso City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

No one was hurt, but nerves were rattled at City Hall in what is thought to be the first cross-border gunfire during a drug war that has engulfed Juárez since 2008.

El Paso police spokesman Darrel Petry said investigators do not think City Hall was intentionally targeted but rather was struck by stray shots.

"It does appear the rounds may have come from an incident in Juárez," Petry said.
City Hall, whose east and west sides are covered by glass windows, sits on a hill about a half-mile north of the Rio Grande.


About 4:50 p.m., city workers were going about a regular day when a bullet penetrated a ninth-floor west side window of the office of Assistant City Manager Pat Adauto.

The building was not evacuated, but several secretaries with windows facing Juárez described the incident as scary. Several police officers were sent to City Hall. A police crime scene investigator could be seen taking photos of the building.

Petry said an inspection by police and city staff found that City Hall was hit by seven gunshots, which appeared to be losing velocity when they struck. Six of the rounds hit stucco walls on the north and south sides of the building. Two bullets were recovered -- the one that went through the window and one that bounced off an exterior wall. The size of the bullets was not disclosed.

"Any time somebody takes a shot at City Hall, it's of great concern to us," El Paso Mayor John Cook said. "It's OK if people take political shots at us, but this is unacceptable."

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He's Called the Face of Ciudad Juarez Terror

Authorities say Eduardo Ravelo has helped turn the border city into Mexico's homicide capital. Now investigators think he played a role in the U.S. Consulate slayings.

Los Angeles Times

El Paso, Texas - Authorities think he had his fingertips altered to disguise his prints and plastic surgery to mask his face. Except for his dark eyes, federal officials doubt he looks anything like his 12-year-old FBI most wanted photo -- round face, trim mustache and a scar along his cheek.

Eduardo Ravelo, known on the street as "Tablas," or "lumber," for his ability to crush, allegedly rules thousands of acolytes in an operation that authorities say specializes in killing, conspiracy, extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering.

Though he is thought to live across the border in Ciudad Juarez and regularly cross into Texas, he has eluded arrest.

"He's a butterfly, a moth," said Samantha Mikeska, an FBI special agent leading the hunt for Ravelo. "He takes care of his people and that keeps him under the radar."

Ravelo, 42, is said by law enforcement to have been a major factor in turning Ciudad Juarez into the homicide capital of Mexico, with nearly 5,000 people slain there since 2008 and more than 600 this year. He is thought to be responsible for dozens of the slayings.

Now he has risen to new prominence as authorities in the U.S. and Mexico investigate whether he was behind the recent drive-by killings of three people associated with the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez.

Arthur H. Redelfs, a detention officer at the El Paso County Jail, and his wife, Lesley A. Enriquez, a consulate employee, were ambushed and killed March 13 as they drove home from a birthday party. A third person, who was married to a consulate employee, was apparently killed by mistake as he drove from the same party in a vehicle similar to the Redelfs'.

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Mayor Talks in El Paso About Violence in Juarez

Juarez mayor tells UT crowd about challenges of drug wars

American-Statesman

Speaking Monday at the University of Texas, Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said his city is no longer a crossing point for large shipments of drugs because of a troop buildup.

Jose Reyes Ferriz had no idea what he was getting into when he was elected mayor of Juárez in 2007. A few months after winning, his city plunged into the most brutal drug war Mexico has ever known.

Entering its third year, Juárez's bloody conflict has seen nearly 5,000 murders, dozens of businesses torched by extortionists and residents worried that neither a rebuilt police force nor thousands of Mexican soldiers can protect them from the violence.

Ferriz offered a glimpse behind those grim headlines Monday, speaking to an overflow crowd at the University of Texas in a talk sponsored by the school's Latin American studies program.

The visit featured an unusual amount of security for a university talk: two police officers checking bags as people entered. Ferriz has faced numerous death threats, the latest found next to a severed pig's head a few weeks ago after he fired several corrupt Juárez police officers.

While it's often characterized as a fight between powerful drug cartels, Ferriz said the current violence is the result of battles between the city's three main street gangs, who are fighting for control of the city's drug trade.

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Barrio Azteca Targeting Police DHS Warns

Mexican 'Assassin Teams' May Target U.S. Law Enforcement, DHS Warns.

FOXNews.com

Law enforcement officers in west Texas are on guard following an alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security warning of retaliatory killings for a recent crackdown on the Barrio Azteca gang.

March 30: Police officers escort Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, right, to a court hearing in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Law enforcement officers in west Texas are on guard following an alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security warning of retaliatory killings for a recent crackdown on the Barrio Azteca gang.

El Paso, Texas - David Cuthbertson, special agent in charge of the FBI's El Paso division, said the paramilitary-style gang has an "open policy" to kill its rivals and may turn its sights toward local law enforcement officers.

"[They] are extremely cold-blooded and aggressive," Cuthbertson told FoxNews.com. "The killings are done really without thought and any kind of remorse."

Citing uncorroborated information, Homeland Security issued an Officer Safety Alert on March 22, advising lawmen in the El Paso sector to vary their routes to and from work and to wear body armor while on duty. The alert also suggested that officers' relatives pay closer attention to unusual activity in the area.

"The Barrio Azteca gang may issue a 'green light' authorizing the attempted murder of [law enforcement officers] in the El Paso area," the alert read. "Due to the threat, it is recommended that [law enforcement officers] take extra safety precautions."

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Sheriff Richard Wiles says Slaying Suspect's Claim False

El Paso Times

El Paso -- El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles on Wednesday took odds with an explanation by Mexican authorities that the Aztecas gang killed one of his detention officers in Juárez for allegedly mistreating gang members while they were in jail.

Other U.S. law enforcement experts also questioned the explanation, the first time Mexican officials offered a motive for the March 13 slayings of three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate.

The experts also said they feared that the case may become mired in politics between the U.S. and Mexico.

A former El Paso Barrio Azteca member, Ricardo "Chino" Valles de la Rosa, 45, is accused in Mexico of acting as a lookout for other gang members who carried out the attack on detention officer Arthur Redelfs because he allegedly mistreated gang members.

Wiles disputed that theory.

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Barrio Azteca Targets Police

Barrio Azteca threat targets law officers.

El Paso Times

El Paso, Texas -- The Barrio Azteca gang could be plotting to kill El Paso law enforcement officers in retaliation for a recent crackdown on gang members, an alert issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned.

"The Barrio Azteca gang may issue a 'green light' authorizing the attempted murder of LEOs (law enforcement officers) in the El Paso area," stated a copy of the alert obtained by the El Paso Times.

A "green light" is a murder sanctioned by the military-style leadership of the gang. The gang works with the Juárez drug cartel and is under scrutiny for its possible involvement in the unsolved murders in Juárez of three people tied to the U.S. Consulate.

The warning, or Officer Safety Alert, stated that the potential threat was "uncorroborated" but that officers and their families should take extra precautions.

"We understand it's uncorroborated information so we don't know how serious a threat it is," said Special Agent Andrea Simmons, spokeswoman for the FBI in El Paso.

The alert, issued Monday, tells officers to wear body armor while on duty, to vary routes to and from work and to tell their families to watch for any unusual activity. It also stated that suspicious people and vehicles near government buildings should be reported.

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The Street Gang Connection

Mexican DTO's will not think twice to utilize the US and Mexican street gangs to maximize their effort in ensuring they remain the primary supplier of illicit drugs to the US.

Most recently the street gangs in Mexico and the US have been receiving a lot of notoriety. The recent execution of the two Americans in Ciudad Juarez with ties to the US consulate has many in the media and both sides of the government pointing their finger at Barrio Azteca, and with reason. 

Looking at the crime spree in the last few years in Mexico they have good reason to be suspect and be very concerned. The massacre of 16 students in cold blood in February of this year in Ciudad Juarez was possibly done to take out some of the "Double A" or "Artistas Asesinos." The mass killings last year in some of the rehab centers in Juarez have had ties to Barrio Azteca.

It has been rumored for some time that street gangs have allied with the big drug cartels, in the US and Mexico. They do this to distribute the drugs and in many cases to be the foot soldier of the big drug corporations.

The Barrio Azteca has had a strong relationship with the Juarez cartel while the “AA” have been rumored to support the Sinaloa cartel of El Chapo Guzman.

These are just two of the more prominent gangs active in both Juarez and El Paso, but there are more, a lot more. Only someone very naïve about drug trafficking strategy would think that gangs do not have links to the Mexican drug cartels, simply because they deal in the same business; drugs and violence.

So we should not be surprised when Mexico apprehends sicarios and they find them to be from a street gang with a cartel connection. Americans are very concern about the “spillover” of violence and drugs in to US soil, and some even dread that perhaps someday the Mexican drug cartels will set up shop in the US as they do in Mexico.

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Spillover Possible?

Spillover violence from Mexico: reality or exaggeration?

Star Telegram

El Paso, foreground, is just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez. In a letter, a state senator cited anecdotal reports that elements of gangs in Juarez may be moving their operations to El Paso's Mission Valley.

Austin, Texas - From his office window, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen has a clear view of Ciudad Juarez, El Paso's blood-drenched sister city just across the Rio Grande in northern Mexico.

The carnage that has claimed 4,700 lives over the past two years has been confined primarily to Juarez. But Allen is taking no chances. He recently obtained approval to buy 1,145 M4 rifles -- civilian versions of the military weapons used by U.S. combat troops -- to put his officers on equal footing with the heavily armed criminals in Mexico's drug gangs.

The drug war across the river is "so dadgum close that it has to be a concern to the law enforcement community here," Allen said. "You have to speculate that it could come here. That's a reality."

"Spillover violence," as it's now officially labeled, is a much-feared Mexican import that nobody wants. But law enforcement officials, municipal leaders, political figures and diplomats disagree on whether it is already showing up in Texas -- and to what extent. It has also emerged as an issue in the governor's race between Republican incumbent Rick Perry and Democratic challenger Bill White.

Responding last week to the slaying of a U.S. Consulate worker and two others in Juarez, Perry ramped up law enforcement operations along the border by activating a year-old contingency plan to deal with spillover violence. Several border-area mayors said Perry took the action without consulting them, and White suggested that Perry may be overstating the dangers for political gain.

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The Investigation in to the Juarez Executions Continue

Gang sweep seeks leads on Juárez killings.

El Paso, Texas - About 200 law-enforcement officials - including the FBI, police, sheriff's deputies and others - swooped down on suspected Barrio Azteca gang members today.

The raids began early in the morning in what was described as a "shakedown" of the gang, which has been involved in murders, kidnappings, extortions and gun and drug trafficking.

"The El Paso law enforcement community has come together today to locate Barrio Azteca members as part of a major intelligence collection effort," said Special Agent Andrea Simmons, spokeswoman for the FBI in El Paso. "This surge is being done to generate leads regarding the ongoing investigation into Saturday's murders," Simmons said.

Among the agencies involved in the sweep were the FBI, DEA, ICE, Customs and Border Protection and DPS.

Officials in Juárez have said they suspect the Aztecas gang of Juárez may be responsible for the deaths of Lesley A. Enriquez, 35, who worked at the consulate, her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, 36, a detention officer for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, whose wife worked for the consulate.

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Testimony Continues

El Paso Times

Rooster breeder testifies at drug smuggling trial

El Paso, TX - A man who breeds roosters for fighting testified today that he helped drug smugglers transport marijuana loads to various U.S. cities.

Paul Quaintance is the latest person to testify in the federal trial against Fernando Ontiveros-Arambula and Manuel Chavez-Betancourt, who are accused of drug smuggling.

Quaintance, who was prosecuted in Oregon for possession of methamphetamine, said he met drug dealers from the Juárez-El Paso region at cockfights in New Mexico.

He said about half of the people who attended cockfights were involved in drug-trafficking.

Some of the smugglers he had worked with included several witnesses who testified in the ongoing trial in U.S. District Judge David Briones' court.

He also said met a smuggler named "Liz," who had been shot 15 times in Juárez.

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Suspect is Top Cartel Operative

Witnesses: Suspect is top cartel operative

El Paso Times

El Chapo

El Paso, TX - Two witnesses testified Monday that a man on trial on drug-smuggling charges is one of Mexican kingpin Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman's top operatives.

The trial of Fernando Ontiveros-Arambula and Manuel Chavez-Betancourt resumes today in Judge David Briones' court. Both pleaded not guilty.

Silvia Carbajal, 26, a former girlfriend of Ontiveros-Arambula, testified that Ontiveros-Arambula told her "he was on the same level as 'Mayito.'"

"Mayito" is a nickname for an associate of the Sinaloa cartel in alliance with Guzman.

Carbajal said she worked for Ontiveros-Arambula as a drug smuggler and money courier, and had a child by him. She said he told her he flew into Mexico's interior for meetings with Guzman and other drug-traffickers, and also worked with a man nicknamed "Arabe."

U.S. federal officials arrested Carbajal at the Zaragoza bridge in 2008 after marijuana was found in the tires of the car she was driving. She said the marijuana belonged to Ontiveros-Arambula.

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3rd Kidnapping Suspect Surrenders

3rd kidnapping suspect surrenders.

El Paso TX - A third man suspected in the September kidnapping of a Horizon City man surrendered to police on Saturday, sheriff's officials said.

Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jesse Tovar said Rafael Vega, 26, surrendered early Saturday at police headquarters in Central El Paso. Police turned Vega over to sheriff's deputies a short time later.

Vega is suspected in the abduction of 30-year-old Sergio Saucedo, who was taken at gunpoint from his home in the 14000 block of Desert Sunset Drive about 3:40 p.m. Sept. 3. His wife told deputies Vega was tied up with duct tape and carried out the back door.

Witnesses reported hearing a gunshot and the victim struggling and yelling for help before he was taken away in a Ford Expedition. Children on a school bus also witnessed the daytime kidnapping.

On Sept. 8, Mexican authorities found Saucedo's mutilated body in Juárez. His hands were cut off and placed on his chest.

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Abducted in El Paso, Executed in Juarez

"Buggs" for Borderland Beat

Sergio Saucedo

El Paso, TX - Authorities filed aggravated kidnapping charges against four men in the abduction of a Horizon City man who was later found slain in Juárez with his arms chopped off.

Investigators haven't determined whether Sergio Saucedo was killed in the U.S. or Mexico, and they could bring further charges once they do.

Brothers Omar and Cesar Obregon, both 21-year-old illegal immigrants from Mexico, were arrested Wednesday by U.S. Border Patrol agents who spotted them trying to break into a house, El Paso County Sheriff's Cmdr. Paul Cross said Thursday. They were being held at the El Paso County jail on $250,000 bond each, Cross said.

Authorities are seeking the other two suspects - 26-year-old Rafael Vega and Ricardo Puentes Morales, whose age was unavailable. Both are U.S. citizens.

Vega and Puentes are affiliated with a Mexican cartel, but the Obregons are not, Cross said.

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It's Time for the U.S. to Start Yelling in Mexico's Ear

El Paso Times

We sashay our big American hips around Iraqi and Afghan politicians, but when Mexico messes us up ... shhh, we don't want to offend our friend to the south.

I say at least yell at Mexico. Instead, we just send money and keep our mouths shut about the massive drug war going on -- the war that is definitely affecting us.

Right across our river is the most violent city on Earth. And there's nary a reaction from Washington, D.C.

Psst, Congress, there's a major national security risk right next to one of the 25 largest cities in the land.

Meanwhile, we're over in Afghanistan "securing" ourselves. We're in Iraq because that makes us safer here in America. The Middle East is some 4,000 miles from D.C. Juárez is just a few yardsticks away from El Paso.

So it was good to hear one of our area congressmen, Ciro Rodriguez, and members on the El Paso City Council at least ask for suggestions on what to do. As City Councilman Steve Ortega said, "If you have any ideas, tell me. I want to hear."

OK, Steve, here's my idea: Get in Mexico President Felipe Calderón's ear. This war is affecting the $52 billion a year in trade coming across our El Paso ports of entry. There are 60,000 El Paso jobs relating to that trade.

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Juarez Mayor Asked Why He Hasn't Resigned

Renowned journalist Jorge Ramos of Univision Interviews the mayor of Ciudad Juarez José Reyes Ferriz. The interview was from Miami, Florida to the neighboring city of El Paso, Texas where the mayor of Juarez lives.

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M-4 in Every Patrol Car

City to vote on assault rifle buy, cops want an M-4 in every patrol car.

El Paso, TX  - Members of the El Paso City Council appear to favor the purchase of over 1,000 assault rifles for the police department, which says it needs them to protect the city from increasingly better armed criminals.

The council will be asked on Tuesday to approve the purchase of 1,145 assault rifles at a cost of $772,646. That would supply all patrol officers with the civilian version of the M-4 military rifle. The lowest bid is from recommended bidder GT Distributors Inc. of Austin.

The money would come from a federal grant of up to $899,287, funds targeted at stimulating the economy.

The case for the purchase is usually couched in terms of the drug-cartel violence in Juárez.

“We definitely don’t want our police officers to be outgunned by any cartel operatives who might come over to El Paso,” says El Paso Mayor John Cook.

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Boy Killed While Fleeing Gunmen

It is never good when innocent people, especially children get caught in the cross fire of the drug war being waged in Ciudad Juarez. It is heart breaking to hear of such tragedy and it's such a sensless act of violence when a child who is truly innocent is killed. We have seen sicarios (hitmen) kill family members of intended targets, including children and women. They do this to send a message to others and to emposed brutal punishment to the intended target. It is a ruthless business on the other side of the border.

A 7-year-old Glen Cove Elementary School third-grader was attempting to run away from gunmen when he was shot several times in the back, Juárez police say.

The same gunmen had just shot and killed his father.

The boy, Raul Xazziel Ramirez-Ramirez, is the youngest student from an El Paso school to die in the savage and unrelenting war among rival drug cartels in Juárez. The death toll this year has already reached a little more than 2,200.

Raul was reportedly visiting his father in Juárez when he was gunned down.

Raul lived with his aunt and uncle in El Paso and this was his first semester at Glen Cove Elementary in East El Paso. Counseling was offered to students and teachers at the school.

The fatal shootings happened at Bernardo Norzagaray and Arroyo de las Víbores streets just before 7:55 p.m. Friday.

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