FBI- and DEA-led Operation Knock Down interrogated 100 of the 700 known Barrio Azteca gang members
EL PASO — In one of the city’s largest law enforcement operations, teams of federal, state and local authorities on Thursday began pressuring members of the Barrio Azteca gang for information on the murders of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Jurez.
The operation is part of a huge attempt on both sides of the border to solve the slayings, which have brought international attention and the condemnation by President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Caldern.
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The Aztecas is a brother organization to the El Paso-based Barrio Azteca gang. Both are allied with Vicente Carrillo Fuente’s Jurez drug cartel.
The Barrio Azteca is the dominant gang in El Paso and has been involved in murders, kidnappings, drug trafficking and the collection of a quotas or taxes on drug dealers. The gang, started by El Pasoans in prison, has an estimated 3,000 members.
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At the international crossings in El Paso, Customs and Border Protection officers have been ordered to wear body armor….