Eduardo Ravelo
Encyclopedia
Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo is a Mexican American
leader of the Barrio Azteca
gang. He is also a fugitive
wanted on several charges related to drugs and organized crime. On October 20, 2009, he was named by the FBI
as the 493rd fugitive to be placed
on the Ten Most Wanted list
.
.
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.
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
leader of the Barrio Azteca
Barrio Azteca
The Barrio Azteca, or Los Aztecas, is a Mexican Prison gang originally based in El Paso, Texas. The group worked as a paramilitary armed wing for the Juárez Cartel in 1997 and it is currently operating as a branch of the powerful La Línea , and has relocated to Guadalajara city.Eduardo Ravelo...
gang. He is also a fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
wanted on several charges related to drugs and organized crime. On October 20, 2009, he was named by the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
as the 493rd fugitive to be placed
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s
-FBI Headlines in the 2000s:The 2000s started out badly for the FBI's much needed attempts to upgrade technology. First, the Trilogy project went far over the $380 million budget, and behind its three-year schedule. Then, Virtual Case File, or VCF, planned for completion in 2003, was officially...
on the Ten Most Wanted list
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
.
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 CartelJuárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel , also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas...
.
In 2005, an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
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
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
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
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
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
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, 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.