35 Barrio Azteca Members Arrested, 10 Charged in Murder of Americans

United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that 35 members of the international gang Barrio Azteca have been arrested on various charges including racketeering, murder and money laundering. Ten of them are also charged with the murders of three Americans, including one U.S. Consulate employee, in Juarez, Mexico last March.

U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton was pregnant when she was shot to death on March 13 along with her husband, Arthur Redelfs, and the husband of another consulate employee, Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros. The trio was returning in two separate cars to El Paso from a birthday party in Mexico when they were ambushed by gunmen. Catton and her husband were shot in front of their infant daughter. The child was not harmed. Ceniceros was shot and his vehicle was set on fire. The motive behind the killings remains unclear.

"The indictment unsealed today represents our continued action to ensure safety along our Southwest border, to seek justice for victims of violent crime in this region, and to weaken dangerous criminal organizations currently operating in Mexico and the United States," said Holder.

"These arrests and criminal charges will disrupt Barrio Azteca's current operations, and they reaffirm that we will not tolerate acts of violence against those who serve and protect American citizens,” he added. “We will continue to stand with our partners in Mexico, and together, build on our unprecedented joint efforts to combat violence and protect the safety of the American and the Mexican people."

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