The southern border has an invasion to say the least. And some of the people flooding over are more dangerous than we thought.
And now mass arrests at the border have sent Washington, D.C. into total mayhem.
In a decisive move against violent crime and illegal immigration, 33 members of notorious gangs were arrested in a multi-agency operation targeting transnational and organized crime in the border town of Uvalde, Texas, and its surrounding areas in Uvalde County.
“Gang violence has no place here in Texas, and we will bring the full force of justice down on these criminals,” Governor Greg Abbott declared as he directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to intensify efforts to root out organized crime in September 2022.
This operation, launched nearly two years ago, was made possible through additional state funding and DPS’s criminal investigative oversight, focusing on a vast organized crime network operating along the Texas-Mexico border.
The investigation targeted the selling and distribution of narcotics, weapons, extortion, aggravated assaults, and other organized criminal activities linked to multiple gangs associated with transnational criminal organizations, including dangerous Mexican cartels.
DPS deployed special agents to crack down on gang activity in the Uvalde area, with a particular focus on the Tango-affiliated gangs and the Latin Kings, both of which are classified as high-threat gangs by DPS.
Following an exhaustive investigation, 33 gang members were arrested, including members of the Latin Kings, West Texas Tango, Tango Blast, Tango Orejon, Tango Aguilon, Texas Syndicate, Paisa, Texas Mexican Mafia, Maniac Latin Disciples, and the San Antonio Walked Down Gang, according to the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office.
The crackdown led to the 38th Judicial District issuing 68 state indictments related to narcotics trafficking and organized criminal activity.
Additionally, the U.S. Western District, Del Rio Division, handed down 17 federal indictments for racketeering and conspiracy.
DPS criminal investigators have identified gang activity as a “growing and serious problem” in Uvalde and the surrounding area, a situation exacerbated by illegal immigration and cross-border criminal enterprises.
The investigation involved collaboration between DPS, the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, Uvalde Police Department, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
This latest crackdown comes nearly a decade after a 2015 joint operation dismantled major gang operations in the area, resulting in the disbanding of the Latin Kings.
Unfortunately, gang activity has resurged, with recent criminal activity involving some of the children of those former incarcerated gang members.
This investigation was a collaborative effort “to identify and combat violent crime from the southern border of the United States,” the sheriff’s office stated.
“We will not tolerate this criminal activity in our community,” District Attorney Christina Mitchell declared. “We will uncover anyone who participates, collaborates, or permits this cancer in our town.” She also hinted that more indictments and arrests are expected as the investigation continues.
This recent wave of indictments follows the October 2020 conviction of 33 Latin King members and associates on federal racketeering charges.
The gang, formally known as the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, has tens of thousands of members operating in chapters across various states, making it one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the country.
In 2020, members from the Austin, San Antonio, and Uvalde chapters of the Latin King’s Central Region of Texas were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 45 to 288 months for their roles in a criminal enterprise that plagued Central Texas for a decade, beginning in 2005.
Four gang leaders received the harshest sentences, ranging from nearly 16 years to 22 years in federal prison.
Among them were “Inca” Pete Perez, leader of the Texas-Central Region in Austin; “Inca” Joe Pierce (“Dro”), leader of San Antonio’s chapter; “Inca” James Marty Long (“Whiteboy”), leader of Uvalde’s chapter; and Jacob Mariscal (“Righteous”).
These individuals were convicted and sentenced for conspiring “to carry out unlawful acts including attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, extortion, robbery, various firearms offenses, and drug distribution involving marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
U.S. Attorney Gregg Sofer emphasized the threat posed by these gangs, stating, “Violent gangs like the Latin Kings are made up of members who wake up each and every day intent on committing violence, dealing drugs, breaking our laws, and threatening our social fabric. Simply put, they cannot be allowed to run unchecked in our streets.”
The acts of violence committed by these gang members, as detailed in court records, include brutal assaults, shootings, stabbings, and beatings.
These crimes are a stark reminder of the dangers posed by gangs operating unchecked in communities, especially in border towns vulnerable to the influence of transnational criminal organizations.
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