Barrio Azteca: Difference between revisions

[[File:Images2868.jpg|right]]The '''Barrio Azteca''' , or '''Los Aztecas'''  is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American Mexican-American] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang gang] originally based in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paso,_Texas El Paso, Texas]. The gang was formed in 1986 and expanded into a transnational criminal organization They are currently one of the most violent gangs in the United States.

In 2008, Barrio Azteca formed an alliance with [[La Linea]], the armed wing of the [[Juarez Cartel]], to fight off the forces of the [[Sinaloa Cartel]], who were attempting to take over the drug smuggling routes in the area. The control of the routes in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez Ciudad Juárez], known as the "Juárez plaza," are vital for the drug trafficking organizations since they are the major illicit conduit into the United States^. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration DEA] estimates that about 70% of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine cocaine] that enters the United States flows through the area^.The gang's main source of income derives from [[Illegal Drug Trade|smuggling drugs across the border from Mexico into the United States]]. They are also responsible for the distribution and sell of narcotics in and outside of prisons. Aside from drug trafficking, they have been charged with a number of different crimes.

The gang, which operates in the U.S. and Mexico, has morphed into a prime example of the "cross-border nature of [[Mexican drug cartel|Mexico's drug war]]." Members of the Barrio Azteca gang usually have U.S. citizenship, making them ideal cross-border killers that move back and forth across the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_border U.S.-Mexico border].

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[[Category:Organizations]]