Barrio Azteca Gang Leader "Tablas" Extradited to US, Linked to Killing of US Consulate Employee Families

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Authorities in Mexico extradited a man who had been one of the key leaders of the Barrio Azteca gang and was on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list. Another BA gang member, Enrique Guajardo Lopez, also known as Kiki, was extradited as well.

Ravelo is accused of being responsible for the planning and killing of three U.S. citizens in 2010. Killed were pregnant US consular employee Lesley A. Enriquez Redelfs, 35, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, 34. Their baby daughter was in the back seat and was unharmed. Also killed was the husband of another consulate employee in a separate targeted shooting.

Eduardo Ravelo Rodriguez, also known as "Tablas" was arrested in 2018 by the Mexican Army in Michoacan. At the time, Ravelo was on the run from authorities in the U.S. for almost a decade.

A total of 35 BA members and associates based in the United States and Mexico were charged in the third superseding indictment for allegedly committing various criminal acts, including racketeering, narcotics distribution and importation, retaliation against persons providing information to U.S. law enforcement, extortion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and murder.

All the 35 defendants have been apprehended. Of them 10 Mexican nationals were charged with the US consulate employees killings, and 28 have pleaded guilty. Three defendants have been convicted at trial, one committed suicide before the conclusion of his trial, and one is awaiting extradition from Mexico.

Juarez Killings of US Citizens

The U.S. and Mexican governments allege the Barrio Aztecas were responsible for the attacks that killed U.S. Consulate employee Lesley Enriquez Redelfs and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, an El Paso County Sheriff's detention officer.

On March 13, 2010, the Redelfs had left a consulate-linked children's party when their vehicle was ambushed by gunmen on a Juárez street near the border.

Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, whose wife worked at the consulate, was killed in a separate shooting after leaving the same party within minutes of the Redelfs. Salcido also was riding in a small white SUV.

Mexican authorities said the gang hit was approved by José Antonio Acosta Hernández, a reputed Juárez drug cartel boss known as "El Diego" who was arrested July 2011 in Chihuahua City.

In an interview filmed by Mexican federal police, Acosta said he approved the deadly attack because it was believed the victims were working for a rival group. "Afterward, we learned they had nothing to do with it," Acosta said in the video.

At the time, it was reported that the killings were ordered because the employee Lesley refused to process suspect or false paperwork. “An individual approached her [at least twice in consulate-related settings prior to her murder] and tried to get her to do something with a document without the proper paperwork,” one law enforcement officer claimed. “Her murder was ordered because she refused to go along with it.”

A young "Tablas"

Ravelo was first indicted in the Western District of Texas by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in connection with his alleged role in the gang on Jan. 8, 2008. The charges included racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances.

Age progression rendering of Ravelo highlighting the scars on his face.

FBI investigators believe that in March 2008, Ravelo carried out a hit on the leader of his own gang. Authorities stated Ravelo stabbed him several times and shot him in the neck. "Tablas" took over leadership of the gang following this attack. He was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list on Oct. 20, 2009, prior to the March 2010 shootings in Juarez.

He was on the list of the 10 Most Wanted by the FBI, who offered a reward of up to $100,000. He was also featured on America's Most Wanted TV show in.

Sources DOJ, Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat, El Paso Times