In a multi-agency operation, 33 violent gang members are arrested in the border town of Uvalde

“Gang violence has no place here in Texas, we will punish these notorious criminals with the full force of the law,” said Governor Greg Abbott as he directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to increase resources to eradicate organized crime in September 2022.

Nearly two years ago, a multi-agency operation, made possible by additional federal resources and criminal investigative oversight from DPS, began targeting a sprawling organized crime network operating along the Texas-Mexico border. The investigation focused on the sale and distribution of drugs and weapons, extortion, aggravated assault, and organized criminal activities of several gangs linked to transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels.

DPS deployed special agents to combat gang activity in the Uvalde area, with a focus on Tango-affiliated gangs and the Latin King gang, which DPS classifies as Tier 1 and Tier 2 gangs, respectively.

After an extensive investigation, 33 gang members were arrested, including 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 Gang, according to a statement from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office.

The 38th Judicial District brought 68 state indictments related to drug trafficking and organized crime. The Del Rio Division, Western District brought 17 federal indictments related to organized crime and conspiracy.

Texas Department of Law Enforcement detectives have identified gang activity as a “growing and serious problem in Uvalde and the surrounding area.”

Investigators from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, Uvalde Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also participated in the investigation. The 38th District Attorney’s Office Border Prosecution Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are prosecuting the case.

The investigation focused on the Uvalde area nearly 10 years after a joint operation in 2015 defeated major gang activity there, leading to the dissolution of the Latin Kings, the sheriff’s office said. Since then, gang activity has increased, with “recent gang activity including the following”[ing] some of the children of these former incarcerated gang members.”

The investigation is a joint effort “to identify and combat violent crime on the southern border of the United States,” the sheriff said.

“We will not tolerate this criminal activity in our community,” said District Attorney Christina Mitchell. “We will track down anyone who participates, assists or allows this cancer to grow in our city.”

She also said she expects further charges and arrests as the investigation progresses.

The charges and arrests came after 33 Latin King members and associates were convicted of federal organized crime in October 2020.

The Latin King Gang, formerly known as Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, has tens of thousands of members active in various states, law enforcement officials told the Central SquareIn 2020, 33 members of the Austin, San Antonio and Uvalde chapters of the Latin King’s Central Region of Texas were sentenced to terms ranging from 45 to 288 months in federal prison. They were convicted for their roles in running a criminal organization in Central Texas that they operated for 10 years starting 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 16 to 22 years. They include Texas-Central Region leader “Inca” Pete Perez in Austin; San Antonio chapter leader “Inca” Joe Pierce (“Dro”); Uvalde chapter leader “Incas” James Marty Long (“Whiteboy”) and Jacob Mariscal (“Righteous”).

They were found guilty and sentenced for conspiracy “to commit unlawful acts, including attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, extortion, robbery, various firearms offenses, and drug trafficking, including marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“Violent gangs like the Latin Kings are comprised of members who wake up every day intent on committing violence, selling drugs, breaking our laws and threatening our social fabric. Simply put, we cannot allow them to roam our streets unchecked,” U.S. Attorney Gregg Sofer said at the time.

According to court documents, the acts of violence committed by the gang members included: attacking a member of a rival gang by beating his “head, face and body with rocks, baseball bats and glass bottles”; conspiring to shoot and deliver a weapon to a member of a rival gang in retaliation for the stabbing of a member of the Latin King crew; hitting rival gang members with a car; using women to lure rival gang members to an apartment where they were “stabbed, punched, kicked and beaten with baseball bats”; among other acts of violence, including shootings, stabbings and beatings.