Former Barrio Azteca Leader Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison After Pleading Guilty to RICO Violation
EL PASO, Texas / Thursday, August 28, 2025– A Mexican national who served as a leader in the Barrio Azteca Criminal Enterprise was sentenced in court last week to 144 months in federal prison for a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) offense.
According to court documents, Salvador Garcia-Garcia aka Ardilla, 56, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was responsible for coordinating the shipment of heroin from Juarez to El Paso for the Barrio Azteca organization. Garcia-Garcia conducted the narcotics smuggling operations from Juarez from Aug. 1, 2010, through on or about Sept. 10, 2014, recruiting other members and associates to smuggle the heroin into El Paso for him.
On Sept. 10, 2014, Garcia-Garcia was indicted for seven counts, including conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, murder in aid of racketeering activity, three separate drug trafficking charges, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and transferring a firearm to a prohibited person. He was arrested by federal authorities on June 20, 2024, and pleaded guilty to the RICO charge on April 7, 2025.
Eighteen of Garcia-Garcia’s co-defendants have been sentenced in the case since 2016. In June 2017, Barrio Azteca leader Juan Pablo Espino was dealt concurrent sentences of 299 months and 240 months imprisonment for one count of conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and one count of money laundering.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the El Paso Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steve Spitzer and Antonio Franco prosecuted the case.
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Contact
USATXW.MediaInquiry@usdoj.gov
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas
