Eduardo Ravelo

Background

Since 1994, Ravelo has cultivated relationships with some of the highest-ranking cartel members. He rose to power within the Barrio Aztecas because of his connections with the Juárez Cartel.

In 2005, an informant and former Barrio Azteca lieutenant testified that Ravelo told him to help find fellow gang members who had stolen from the cartel. The informant testified that later he was taken to a house in El Paso, Texas, where a gang member's mouth, wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape. He was delivered to the Juarez cartel and never heard from again.

In March 2008, he became the leader of the gang shortly after betraying his predecessor, stabbing him several times and shooting him in the neck.

Ravelo and his gang members are allegedly hitmen for a Mexican drug cartel and are responsible for multiple homicides. Barrio Azteca has approximately 600 active members who engage in illegal activities such as arson, assault, auto theft, contract killing, extortion, illegal immigration, kidnapping, money laundering, murder, prostitution, racketeering, human and drug trafficking. Many of the members are in American and Mexican prisons and benefit from the gang's profits by having funds placed in their prison commissary accounts.

Ravelo is originally from Mexico, but has permanent resident status in the United States, helping him to cross the Mexico – United States border. Ravelo is believed to be hiding with his wife and children in a Barrio Aztecas-controlled neighborhood in Ciudad Juárez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. He is said to have bodyguards and armored vehicles to protect him from rival gangs and rival cartels.

According to federal authorities, Ravelo may have altered his appearance by plastic surgery, and fingertips to disguise his fingerprints.

Ravelo is considered armed and extremely dangerous. The FBI is currently offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his capture.