Borderland Beat
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The government also plans to prove that Gallegos Castrellon put a 'lookout' on a white Honda Pilot and that this 'lookout' lead to the shooting deaths of U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, her husband Arthur Redelfs, an El Paso County Jail detention officer, and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of a U.S. consulate employee.
Witness says Barrio Aztecas were trained by Zetas cartel
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Chavez (at left) testified that Gallegos had asked for all Barrio Azteca members to be on the lookout for a white Honda Pilot, after such a vehicle was reportedly seen in the neighborhood where gang leaders lived, and was suspected of casing the leaders' homes. According to radio chatter, two men were in the white Honda Pilot, including one who had a "bowl" type haircut.
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The following is a round up of the Juarez Consulate murder trial. In March 2010, three consulate employees were killed Barrio Azteca gang members . The victims were identified as Americans Lesley A. Enriquez, an official of the consulate, her husband Arthur Haycock Redelfs, (in foto above)
They were travelling in a Toyota SUV with Texas plates. The gunmen chased them down and catching up to them, then blasting the vehicle with bullets, right behind the City Hall. In the attack their ten month daughter, who was seated in the rear in a baby seat, survived the attack.
In a separate incident, on the same day, Mexican citizen Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, who was the husband of a consular employee, was also killed, and the children of the couple ages 4 and 7 were injured by gun blasts and hospitalized. For additional information about Barrio Aztecas and information from transcripts, detailing the interworkings of the gang follow this hyperlink.
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In a separate incident, on the same day, Mexican citizen Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, who was the husband of a consular employee, was also killed, and the children of the couple ages 4 and 7 were injured by gun blasts and hospitalized. For additional information about Barrio Aztecas and information from transcripts, detailing the interworkings of the gang follow this hyperlink.
Opening Statements
In opening statements, government lawyers said they plan to prove that Gallegos Castrellon and other Barrio Azteca leaders gave orders to raise the body count in Juarez as part of their strategy to win the cartel war against the rival Sinaloa drug cartel.
The government says the jury will also hear radio transmissions in which Gallegos Castrellon ordered the March 20, 2010, event to proceed.
Gallegos Castrellon is also accused of ordering the car bomb that exploded in Juarez injuring several Mexican federal police officers and others. At least two Barrio Azteca gang members have agreed to cooperate in providing testimony for this case.
Witness says Barrio Aztecas were trained by Zetas cartel
Barrio Azteca gang member turned government witness testified Tuesday that his gang had received training on how to become better killers from the notorious Zetas drug cartel.
Jesus Ernesto "Camello" Chavez Castillo, who is a witness in the trial of Arturo Gallegos Castrellon in U.S. District Court, testified that the Barrio Azteca gang sent two teams to Torreon, Mexico, to train with the Zetas on how to become more proficient at killing targets.
Gallegos, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of being a gang leader involved in the slayings of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez on March 13, 2010.
Chavez said Barrio Azteca members also learned how to kill people who were inside moving vehicles.
The three victims linked to the U.S. Consulate — Arthur Redelfs, his wife Lesley, and Jorge Salcido — were traveling in white sport utility vehicles in Juárez when they were targeted by Barrio Aztecas who shot at their vehicles. Lesley Enriquez Redelfs worked at the U.S. Consulate, and Salcido was married to someone who also worked at the consulate.
On Tuesday, jurors listened to radio chatter between gang members about the events that led up to the March 2010 slayings of the Redelfs and Salcido.
Prosecutors produced the recordings of the radio communications, but did not say how the recordings were obtained.
Also in Tuesday's testimony, Chavez said that Barrio Azteca leaders began to suspect that someone at the U.S. Consulate was helping the rival Sinaloa drug cartel, possibly by providing visas to that cartel's members. (Having visas to cross the border would facilitate drug-trafficking into the United States.)
Chavez said the reason they suspected this was because people in El Paso were seemingly able to buy drugs at cheaper prices than the prices that the Barrio Azteca gang offered. The gang leaders tried to investigate but their investigation did not lead to any answers, Chavez testified.
Chavez said the reason they suspected this was because people in El Paso were seemingly able to buy drugs at cheaper prices than the prices that the Barrio Azteca gang offered. The gang leaders tried to investigate but their investigation did not lead to any answers, Chavez testified.
Chavez testified that he oversaw a group of hit squads that were responsible for killing more than 2,000 people in Juárez during the drug cartel wars between the Carrillo Fuentes organization, which was allied with the Barrio Azteca gang, and the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, which had other gang allies. Chavez said his part in the violence ended with his arrest in July 2010.
Chavez testified that higher-ups had ordered the Barrio Azteca gang to keep the body count up by killing at least eight people per day in Juárez. Chavez said he was not sure at first they could kill that many people until Barrio Azteca leaders told him how to divide up the work among the different hit squad members.
He testified that the leaders advised him to hit "easy targets" like members of the rival Artistas Asesinos gang, including anyone who happened to be hanging around the gang.
Chavez testified that Gallegos, known as "El Farmero" and "El Benny," informed the Barrio Aztecas that the gang leaders had agreed to support La Linea — the enforcement arm of the Carrillo Fuentes cartel that included corrupt police — and that's why Barrio Aztecas expanded their drug distribution role to include more slayings.
Chavez said it was during this time that he began collecting "cuotas" (protection payments) from businesses in the downtown Juárez area that was under his control. The businesses had agreed to support Barrio Aztecas and the money collected from them was used by the gang to pay off police in Juárez, he said.
Chavez testified that he never saw his wife and stepdaughter again after they left Mexico City, where he was being held in 2010, on their way to Juárez with the intent of fleeing Juárez. He said that his elderly parents made it safely to the United States and that they receive compensation from the U.S. government for their needs.
The admitted Barrio Azteca member testified that he was behind the slayings of 800 people in Juárez between January and August of 2009, but that he stopped counting after that. Upon further questioning, he said additional killings before and after that period could have included 1,500 more victims.
Randolph Ortega, Gallegos' defense lawyer, began poking holes in Chavez's testimony under cross-examination, pointing out inconsistencies and contradictions in statements he gave to officials about his part in the March 13, 2010, slayings and other matters related to the Barrio Aztecas and La Linea.
Barrio Azteca gang member recounts Juárez cartel war killings
Chavez is expected to continue testifying today about his relationship with Gallegos, the gang, La Linea (enforcement arm of the Vicente Carillo Fuentes drug cartel in Juárez), and his knowledge of the shooting deaths of detention officer Arthur Redelfs, his wife Lesley Ann Enriquez Redelfs, who worked at the U.S. Consulate in Juárez, and of Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, husband of Hilda Salcido who also worked at the consulate.
On another occasion, Chavez testified, he was falsely accused of killing a prostitute in central Juárez who was suspected of talking too much. Gang leaders had asked Chavez to simply get her out of the downtown area.![]()
The Border Patrol specialist said she was able to alert Mexican officials about suspicious or unsafe activities that the cameras picked up on the Mexican side of the border. Border officials were on alert on account of numerous reported shootings and people fleeing Mexico, she said.![]()
Source: El Paso Times( by Diana Washington Valdez)and BB archive
Barrio Azteca gang member gave bone-chilling testimony Monday about his role in the violence that ignited Juárez during the drug cartel wars and left among its victims a U.S. Consulate employee and her husband, an El Paso County jail detention officer.
Jesus Ernesto "Camello" Chavez Castillo, a government witness, was among the first to testify in the trial of Arturo Gallegos Castrellon in U.S. District Court in El Paso. Gallegos is accused of being a gang leader involved in the killing of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez on March 13, 2010.
Chavez described how he rose through the ranks of the prison-based Barrio Azteca gang, how he corrupted a Juárez Cereso warden, and how he killed and mutilated people for the gang, sometimes on orders from Gallegos.
Chavez is one of two Aztecas who are scheduled to testify against Gallegos. His testimony in court is helping to establish his credentials as a gang insider.
Chavez is expected to continue testifying today about his relationship with Gallegos, the gang, La Linea (enforcement arm of the Vicente Carillo Fuentes drug cartel in Juárez), and his knowledge of the shooting deaths of detention officer Arthur Redelfs, his wife Lesley Ann Enriquez Redelfs, who worked at the U.S. Consulate in Juárez, and of Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, husband of Hilda Salcido who also worked at the consulate.
Gallegos (alias "Benny,""Farmero,""51" and "Guero") has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison if he is convicted.
Chavez testified that he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 life sentences plus 10 years for his role in the slayings of the Redelfs and Salcido, and other crimes. He said he agreed to cooperate with government lawyers in exchange for protection inside the prison system - he fears retaliation from the Barrio Azteca - and for his elderly parents to receive care in the United States.
He testified that he hopes to have his sentence reduced for cooperating with the government.
"I feel I did the right thing, since I did so much wrong," he testified.
Chavez said he first joined the Barrio Azteca when he was in a prison in Louisiana "because they were from El Paso and for protection." He was deported to Mexico after serving his sentence, where he hooked up with other gang members there.
He testified that the Barrio Azteca uses a military-style structure and ranks that includes captains at the top, followed by lieutenants, sergeants, team leaders, soldiers and prospects (candidates for membership). The gang's "sacred rules" are to put the gang above everyone else, including relatives.
Chavez testified that he was not in Juárez long before he was called on to help "clean" areas for the Barrio Azteca to maintain control of drug dealing. The gang divided their areas of responsibility along the geographical boundaries of the Juárez city police districts.
He used a bat to beat and kill people who gave the Barrio Azteca problems, and testified that people could be eliminated if they sold drugs without the gang's permission, snitched on the gang, stole from the gang, or belonged to rival organizations that served the Sinaloa drug cartel, such as the Artistas Asesinos (Assassin Artists) gang.
As he rose in the organization, Chavez testified that he took over Anapra's drug distribution network, and killed people who tried to defy him there. He was asked to join a "rapid response team" that served the gang's needs, and later a hit squad tasked to kill the gang's enemies. He testified that the Juárez police were not considered enemies of the gang.
Around mid-2007, Chavez testified, Gallegos said the gang was going to join with La Linea to battle against the Sinaloa cartel. The cartels were fighting over the right to control the lucrative Juárez-El Paso drug-smuggling corridor. Chavez testified that the Barrio Azteca was involved in cross-border drug-trafficking, and used illegal border-crossers to carry backpacks filled with drugs at points near Anapra.
Undocumented immigrants also were used to distract the Border Patrol from those who were sent (between the ports of entry) across the border with the backpacks.
At some point, Chavez testified, he also got involved with the 2009 kidnapping and dismemberment of Gilberto "Greñas" Ontiveros' son, also named Gilberto.
The elder Ontiveros was a notorious drug dealer in Juárez who was known for his shaggy hair and for checking out of the Cereso prison on weekends to go dancing at disco clubs. After that embarrassing disclosure, Mexican officials transferred Ontiveros to a prison in Mexico's interior.
Ontiveros returned to the border in 2007 after serving his sentence, and was reported asking about commercial properties in Juárez that the government had appropriated.
Chavez said the son was killed because the elder Ontiveros was suspected of working with the Sinaloa cartel.
Chavez also testified that he took part in about eight beheadings in Juárez, and tortured people to extract information from them. He testified that he also killed a woman, the daughter of a heroin dealer, by placing duct tape around her head to suffocate her and then shooting her in the head.
On another occasion, Chavez testified, he was falsely accused of killing a prostitute in central Juárez who was suspected of talking too much. Gang leaders had asked Chavez to simply get her out of the downtown area.
Reputed gang capo Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo was upset because her murder - she was also raped and one of her breast nipples was bitten off - was going to bring heat on the gang.
But, Chavez testified, he told the gang that he didn't murder the woman and offered to prove it. Ravelo is a fugitive and is on the FBI 10 Most Wanted list.
Barrio Azteca ordered Chavez to surrender to the Chihuahua state special prosecutor that investigates women's murders, Chavez testified, and eventually a DNA test and the gang's independent investigation exonerated him of the woman's death.
Chavez also served time at the Cereso jail in Juárez, where he helped to smuggle weapons and drugs for the gangs. He also testified that he bribed a Cereso director, which permitted the gang to receive visitors that were not searched by the jail guards, and that the gang managed to get a previous Cereso director removed who was giving them problems.
"The Cereso was the Barrio Azteca's most profitable (drug) storefront," Chavez testified.
He said the gang, which hid the weapons in sand for making concrete blocks at Cereso, was arming itself for a possible war against rival gangs inside the Cereso. Chavez was released from Cereso before the conflict broke out, he testified.
On Monday, government lawyers alleged in opening arguments that Gallegos and other Aztecas participated in high-scale violence in Juárez on orders "to keep the body count up," as part of a plan to get control of the streets of Juárez. Nearly 11,000 people died in Juárez during the peak of the drug cartel wars (2007-2012).
Prosecutors said recordings of radio transmissions will show that Gallegos played a key role in the consulate-related killings on March 13, 2010.
The Redelfs were traveling in a white Toyota and Salcido was in a white Honda when Barrio Azteca members allegedly followed them in separate vehicles and fired numerous round at them. Salcido's wife was in a third vehicle following behind her husband, who died in the attack.
The government has alleged that Gallegos sent out a "lookout" (an alert) to Aztecas for a white Honda SUV about 10 days before the attacks.
Gallegos allegedly gave the order to proceed with the shootings after a Barrio Azteca underling notified Gallegos that the vehicle that the Redelfs were in was a white Toyota and not a Honda. The couple's toddler in the back seat survived.
The defense plans to argue that officials could have prevented the deadly attacks, and that Gallegos was tortured by Mexican officers in Mexico before he provided the FBI with a written confession.
Before Chavez took the stand Monday, a U.S. Border Patrol enforcement sector specialist testified about surveillance cameras that recorded a fast-moving vehicle that appeared to pursue the Redelfs' Toyota, and a red Pontiac that the Toyota wrecked with at an intersection in Juárez near the Stanton Street bridge.
The Border Patrol specialist said she was responsible for monitoring 50 surveillance cameras on the U.S. side of the border that among other things can zoom in on people, vehicles and buildings on the Juárez side.
The Border Patrol specialist said she was able to alert Mexican officials about suspicious or unsafe activities that the cameras picked up on the Mexican side of the border. Border officials were on alert on account of numerous reported shootings and people fleeing Mexico, she said.
In the mid-afternoon that day, a Border Patrol agent who saw smoke asked her to pan a camera in the direction of the smoke. She told the court that she noticed that Mexican soldiers and Mexican federal and local police had gathered at the scene of the crash.
Also on Monday, a 19-year-old witness, who was identified only as "A.W.," testified he was sitting in a red Pontiac car waiting for a traffic light to change when the Redelfs' vehicle wrecked into his car.
He testified that he got out of his car, driven by his mother, and walked over to the white Toyota with Texas plates, "to pay us for the wreck." He discovered instead a man and a woman dead inside the Toyota. "They were killed with gunshots," he testified.
"A.W." identified the couple from photographs that were taken at the grisly scene. He was 16 years old at the time.
FBI agent says the accused never told him he was tortured in Mexico
The defendant in a federal trial accused of conspiring to kill three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez in 2010 did not tell FBI agents that Mexican police tortured him before his interview with the U.S. agents, a government witness testified Wednesday.
Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, (in foto above) through his lawyer Randolph Ortega, had argued in court filings that he was tortured by Mexican police and that Mexican law enforcement acted as agents of the FBI.
Gallegos, (alias "Benny" and "Farmero" ), an alleged Barrio Azteca leader in Juárez when the drug cartel wars broke out, pleaded not guilty to various charges, including the murder conspiracy, and to drug and firearms violations.
FBI Special Agent Carlos Hernandez testified Wednesday that he was the FBI's legal attaché assigned to Mexico City when he interviewed Gallegos in 2010 and processed his extradition to the United States.
Gallegos was limping and had reddish marks on his face when he entered the room where he and two other FBI agents waited to interview him, Hernandez testified.
"Gallegos indicated that he injured himself at the time of his Juárez arrest when he tried to escape by jumping from a second story of his residence and falling on a tree," Hernandez said.
Gallegos alleged his testicles were shocked with an electric device, he was hanged by his arms and beaten and his wife was tortured and raped by Mexican agents following his arrest in Juárez on Nov. 26, 2010.
While Gallegos declined to cooperate with U.S. authorities regarding the three slayings in Juárez at the end of the Mexico City interview, he provided the FBI with information about the Barrio Azteca organization, Hernandez testified.
Jesus Ernesto "Camello" Chavez Castillo, a Barrio Azteca turned government witness, testified that Mexican police tortured him after arresting him in Juárez in 2010, and that worse torture followed at the federal police headquarters in Mexico City.
Chavez testified that he was also tortured by Mexican soldiers in Juárez during a previous apprehension on trumped-up drug charges.
"The Mexican army was looking for "Camello," but I did not tell them that it was me," Chavez testified. His experience with torture at the hands of Mexican authorities included water-boarding, electric shocks and being beaten with boards.
Chavez said he told Mexican officers anything they wanted him to say just to end the torture.
In response to whether he ever saw Gallegos torture anyone, Chavez testified that he was present at a Barrio Azteca safe house where a couple of people pretending to be heroin buyers were taken for questioning.
Chavez said that Gallegos and Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo, the Barrio Azteca leader in Juárez, went into the room with the supposed heroin buyers.
"I heard the punches and the beatings," Chavez testified, and added that the subjects turned out to be "newspaper people from the United States." He did not identify them or say whether they were released.
Gallegos told the agents that he had served time at La Tuna in Anthony, Texas, from 1998 to 2000, and went to work for the Barrio Azteca after he was deported to Juárez, selling small amounts of narcotics in the city, Hernandez testified.
Hernandez said that in 2008, Gallegos told the agents he went to work for La Linea, trafficking marijuana into the United States under "La Gata" (Oscar Alonso Escajeda Candelaria) in the Juárez Valley, a region across the border from Fabens and Tornillo. La Linea refers to the enforcement arm of the Carrillo-Fuentes drug cartel, also known as the Juárez cartel.
Escajeda was extradited by Mexico to the United States in 2009 to face drug-trafficking charges.
Hernandez testified that Gallegos told the FBI agents that around 2009 he went back to work for the Barrio Azteca in Juárez, and was given more responsibilities, such as being required to traffic 90 pounds of marijuana across the border three times a week.
Hernandez testified that Gallegos also said that in 2009, "Diego" (Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez) was in charge of La Linea, which took over the cocaine market during the drug wars, and assigned the Barrio Azteca to handle the sales of heroin and marijuana.
Gallegos told the FBI that problems with the rival Sinaloa drug cartel began on or about 2008 when members of the Sinaloa cartel killed people who were close to "J.L.," Hernandez testified. "J.L." refers to Jose Luis Ledezma, a former leader of La Linea in the state of Chihuahua agent Hernandez said.
"Gallegos indicated that J.L. began providing weapons to the B.A. (Barrio Azteca) to kill members of the Sinaloa cartel," Hernandez testified.
Hernandez testified that Gallegos said that "Diego" (Acosta), as head of La Linea, was based in the Carrillo-Fuentes drug cartel's state headquarters, called "La Oficina" (the office), in Chihuahua City, and that he gave orders for "hits" (people to be killed) that were passed on to Gallegos and that Gallegos further passed on to the Barrio Azteca gang members.
Gallegos told the FBI agents that the "lookout" request for a white Hondo pilot was based on information that such a vehicle with tinted windows was seen driving around an area in Juárez that the Barrio Azteca controlled. The suspicious vehicles had two men in it who "appeared to be from the south of Mexico," Hernandez testified. The "lookout" request was passed on to Chavez, who was in charged of surveillance for the Barrio Azteca.
Acosta was sentenced in 2012 by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone to 10 life terms in connection with the conspiracy related to the deaths of the consulate-linked victims, among other charges.
Although he pleaded guilty to the charges, Acosta denied back then that he had a direct role in the three murders
"I personally had no knowledge of the actions of the Barrio Azteca," Acosta said in court in 2012. "I did not find out about it until much later. I coordinated what was La Linea in Juárez. The Barrio Azteca was very independent. They had their leader, (Eduardo) Ravelo."
Hernandez testified that Gallegos told the FBI in 2010 that "Popeye" (Martin Perez Marrufo) and "Zorro" (Jose G. Diaz Diaz), both Barrio Azteca members, were the shooters in the slayings of Arthur Redelfs and his wife Lesley Enriquez Redelfs, who were in a white Toyota, and of Jorge Salcido, who was driving a white Honda Pilot. Enriquez Redelfs worked at the U.S. consulate and Salcido was married to a woman who worked at the consulate.
Chavez, alias "Camello," testified on Wednesday that although he too pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill the three people on March 13, 2010, he does not believe he is responsible for their deaths. At first, Chavez testified, he thought the victims were targeted because of ties to the consulate.
However, he testified, after reviewing the recordings of the radio chatter and transcripts of the communications between the Barrio Azteca gang members, he realized that their deaths "was a mistake," and that they were not the intended targets.
Relative of kingpin Vicente Carrillo Fuentes testifies
A relative of Mexican drug kingpin Vicente Carrillo Fuentes testified Thursday as a government witness in the federal trial of Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, an alleged Barrio Azteca leader accused of conspiring to kill three people with links to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez.
Fernando Carrillo, 33, a former Barrio Azteca member, said he grew up around drug-trafficking and that two of his uncles are involved in the drug trade.
His testimony provided glimpses into the possible tensions between a regional cartel leader in Chihuahua, Jose Luis "J.L" Ledezma, and Barrio Azteca leader Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo in Juárez.
"My uncles are nephews of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes," testified Carrillo, who used eyeglasses and a wore a shirt and tie and dress slacks with a large "G" belt buckle. Carrillo testified that he wanted to work for the Juárez drug cartel, which is headed by his relative, Carrillo Fuentes, and told the court he became a member of the Barrio Azteca while he was incarcerated in the United States.
He testified that he knew "J.L." Ledezma, who was the cartel's top leader in Chihuahua state, and attended a meeting at a ranch outside Juárez with Ledezma, Ravelo, leader of the Barrio Azteca in Juárez, someone nicknamed "Rafa," and Jesus "Camello" Castillo Chavez, a leader of Barrio Azteca hit squads, who has also testified for the government in the trial.
Carrillo identified the defendant in court, Gallegos, who has pleaded not guilty to various charges, including conspiring to kill Arthur Redelfs, an El Paso County jail detention officer, his wife, Lesley Enriquez Redelfs, who worked at the U.S. Consulate in Juárez, and Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, whose wife also worked at the consulate. Enriquez Redelfs was four months pregnant when Barrio Azteca hit men shot them to death in Juárez on March 13, 2010.
Carrillo testified that Ravelo became perturbed after Ledezma asked him at the ranch meeting to go easy on Carrillo, and to not send him out to commit "hits" (killings) right away because Carrillo had recently been released from a U.S. prison.
"Tablas (Ravelo) wanted my help to take out "J.L." (Ledezma) — I said no," Carrillo testified, explaining that the cartel would send someone to kill anyone who tried to eliminate Ledezma.
Ravelo, who is suspected of involvement in the 2010 slayings of the three people with links to the U.S. Consulate, is one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives. Ledezma, who was being sought by Mexican officials, has not been seen in the Chihuahua region in recent years.
Carrillo testified that one of the Barrio Azteca members told him that "Farmero," one of the nicknames for Gallegos, "is getting crazy. He's killing a lot of people."
Carrillo testified that he was deported to Mexico after serving his sentence, and reported to a Barrio Azteca representative in Juárez. He said he also worked for La Linea, the drug cartel's enforcement arm, which he described as organized crime. He said Barrio Azteca was merely a prison gang before the drug cartel wars broke out in Juárez.
The role of the Barrio Azteca in Juárez changed in 2007-2008 with the drug cartel wars, he said.
"The (Carrillo-Fuentes) cartel decided to give 'their work' to the Barrio Azteca, which was mostly killing," Carrillo testified. "Fresa" said 'we are at war right now, we are helping the Juárez drug cartel.'""Fresa," a Barrio Azteca member, is the nickname of Alberto Nuñez Payan, who was indicted by U.S. officials on various charges.
At the time, Carrillo testified, the gang members were instructed to keep a low profile and conceal their tattoos to avoid being identified by rival gangs that worked for the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Carrillo testified that he delivered about 60 grams of cocaine per week to the Mexican side of the border for about 10 months, and began smuggling marijuana to the U.S. on the side of the border, which got him arrested. "I tried to (transport) marijuana to Memphis for myself," he testified.
Also on Thursday, the court heard from Gualberto Marquez, another Barrio Azteca member turned government witness, and from FBI Special Agent Samantha Mikeska, the FBI's lead gang investigator.
Marquez testified that his El Paso-based drug-trafficking cell was going strong before he got busted in 2009. He said that during one six-month period his organization was processing 350 to 500 kilograms of cocaine a month, and at one point had $11.8 million in proceeds from drug sales. "It took us two days to count the money," Marquez testified.
Mikeska testified about the Barrio Azteca leaders in the United States who acted as the leadership umbrella for the Barrio Azteca gang in the U.S. and Juárez. She identified a cell phone, which is evidence in the trial, that U.S. prison officials found inside a cell belonging to one of the gang leaders. The telephone was used to issue directives to other gang members.
Gallegos' defense lawyer, Randolph Ortega, told the court that none of the information provided by Marquez or Mikeska had a direct bearing on the defendant.
On Wednesday, U.S. officials testified about heroin that smuggled into a U.S. prison for a Barrio Azteca leader inside the binding of a book titled "The Whole Truth." The book was received into evidence as well.
During the trial, which is concluding its first week today (Friday), jurors saw photographs of beheaded and dismembered bodies, and heard graphic testimony about the brutal acts that Barrio Azteca members committed during the drug wars in Juárez.