(The Center Square) – Thirty-three gang members have been arrested as part of a multi-agency operation targeting international and organized crime in the Texas border town of Uvalde and surrounding areas of Uvalde County.
“Gang violence has no place in Texas, and we will use our full strength to bring these high-profile criminals to justice,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in September 2022 when he directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to increase resources to root out organized crime.
Approximately two years ago, a multi-agency investigation, made possible by additional state funding and criminal investigative oversight by DPS, was launched targeting a large organized crime network operating on the Texas-Mexico border. The investigation focused on the sale and distribution of narcotics, weapons, extortion, aggravated assault and organized crime activity by multiple gangs with ties to international crime organizations, including Mexican cartels.
DPS deployed special agents to crack down on gang activity in the Uvalde area, prioritizing surveillance of the Tango and Latin King gangs, which are classified by DPS as Tier 1 and Tier 2 gangs, respectively.
According to a statement from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, an extensive investigation led to the arrest of 33 individuals, 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 San Antonio Walked Down gangs.
The 38th Judicial District returned 68 state indictments for engaging in drug trafficking and organized crime activity. The Western District of the United States, Del Rio Division, returned 17 federal indictments for organized crime and conspiracy charges.
Texas DPS criminal investigators have identified gang activity as a “growing problem in Uvalde and the surrounding areas.”
Investigators from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, Uvalde Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations also participated in the investigation. The 38th District Attorney’s Border Prosecution Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are prosecuting the case.
The investigation into the Uvalde area comes nearly a decade after a joint operation in 2015 took down a major gang organization in the area, disbanding the Latin Kings. Since then, gang activity has increased, and “recent gang activity has involved the children of former gang members,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The investigation was a collaborative effort to “identify and combat violent crime from the U.S. southern border,” the sheriff said.
“We will not tolerate criminal activity like this in our community,” District Attorney Christina Mitchell said. “We will expose anyone who participates in, collaborates with or condones this cancer in our city.”
She also said she expects the investigation will result in further charges and arrests.
The indictments and arrest warrants came after 33 Latin Kings members and associates were convicted of federal crimes in October 2020.
The Latin Kings gang, officially known as the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, has tens of thousands of members operating in chapters in various states, law enforcement officials told The Center Square. In 2020, 33 members of the Latin Kings’ Central Texas chapters in Austin, San Antonio and Uvalde were sentenced to between 45 and 288 months in federal prison. They were convicted of running a criminal enterprise in Central Texas for 10 years, beginning in 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
Four leaders received the longest prison sentences, ranging from approximately 16 to 22 years, including Austin Central Texas area leader “Inca” Pete Perez, San Antonio chapter chief “Inca” Joe Pierce (“Doro”), Uvalde chapter chief “Inca” James Marty Long (“White Boy”), and Jacob Mariscal (“Righteous”).
They were convicted and sentenced for “conspiring to commit illegal activities including attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, extortion, robbery, various firearms offenses and the sale of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.”
“Violent gangs like the Latin Kings are made up of members who wake up each day intent on committing violence, selling drugs, breaking laws and undermining the fabric of our society. Simply put, they cannot be allowed to operate unchecked on our streets,” U.S. Attorney Greg Sofer said at the time.
According to court records, acts of violence committed by gang members included assaulting rival gang members by hitting them in the head, face and body with “rocks, bats and glass bottles,” conspiring to shoot rival gang members and providing them with guns in retaliation for the stabbing of a Latin Kings member, ramming rival gang members with their cars, using women to lure rival gang members to their residences where they were “stabbed, punched, kicked and hit with baseball bats,” and other acts of violence including shootings, stabbings and beatings.
