If I didnt get away, you wouldnt be talking to me. She faces up tofive years to life in prison at her sentencing on July 27. I was the smallest little fer for my age in the hood, he says. Some of the kids had extended family members watching over them, but, as almost always happens, those family members had their own burdens. They went after one another with baseball bats, golf clubs, tire irons, and machetes. In fact, starting around 1999 or 2000, there was a sharp upturn in . The Carriage Way apartment complex, photographed one week after an FBI takedown, was home to a sex trafficking operation by the Southwest Cholos in the Gulfport section of Houston between 2009 and 2017, according to allegations. In front of others, the color is blue or red. Now what? asks Julian, his eyes gleaming. Maria Angelica Moreno-Reyna, 51, also known as Patty. And they constantly wage war with one anotherfighting, maiming, killing, and dying over their turfs, their colors, and their hand signs, which have special meanings only to them. These kids were completely alienated., The kids were alienated for reasons other than just geography. He gives me a smile. At the age of thirteen, he says, he stole several cars from the parking lot of the Bellaire Square apartments (a Cholos hangout) and sold them. That phrase had been marked over and replaced with MS-13 Controla!. Gabrielle Banks , who covers federal courts for the Houston Chronicle, reports that there are actually more brothels in Houston than Starbucks locations. DeTorres said often parents have no idea that their son or daughter is a gang member. Anyone with information about Sifuentes and Dominguez is asked to contact the FBI Houston field office by phone at 713-693-5000. Eddie Alejandro Torres, 40, admitted to conspiring to force, coerce or trick women into sex trafficking for his family . . What did you do, Alex? Julian asks again. 7. El Chapo's cartel torture and kill rivals before hanging naked bodies from bridge in brutal turf war. All of the defendants are indicted in the criminal scheme as alleged members or affiliates of the Southwest Cholos. Chicano street gangs started aligning themselves with either the Mexican Mafia or the Nuestra Familia . Bianca Stephanie Reyna aka Troubles, 20, Claudia Soriano-Hernandez, 26, Juan Carlos Contreras Cervantes, 25, The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Harris County Sheriffs Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, Houston Police Department, Texas Anti-Gang Center and ICEs Enforcement Removal Operations conducted the investigation as part of both the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA). He looks toward the street to see what cars are coming his way. There is, for instance, no single leader or command structure within the Southwest Cholos, despite the fact that the gang operates mostly out of southwest Houston. Two more defendants Erik Ivan Alvarez-Chavez aka Casa, 39, and Denis Amaya Calballero aka Keiko, 25, both of Houston - were already in custody on related charges and are expected to make their appearances in federal court in the near future. By his account, he has been involved in at least a hundredmaybe two hundred, he estimatesfistfights, knife fights, gun battles, and yes, drive-bys. All of them. On the walls of almost all the complexes are large banners, many written in Spanish, offering $99 move-in specials, with no credit check required. Those charged with the drug trafficking also face up to life with a minimum of 10 years as possible punishment. Suddenly nervous, I press down on the accelerator. A group of teenagers of Central American descent, who had heard about an existing gang in the immigrant neighborhoods of Los Angeles called Mara Salvatrucha, began calling themselves the Houston Mara Salvatruchans. So I knew I had to learn to box or I wasnt going to make it.. On another wall, he put up a poster showing an angry young man, his body covered in tattoos, throwing down one of the MS-13 gang signs: His fingers twisted so that his right hand was in the shape of an M and his left hand in the shape of an S. Alex went through the neighborhood spray-painting MS-13 on walls, and when he got a little money together, he bought his gang clothes. An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. La Tercera Crips' color is blue, De Torres said. All are charged in varying counts to include multiple conspiracy counts; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud or coercion; transportation to engage in prostitution; enticing or coercing another to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution; transportation of illegal aliens; importation of aliens for immoral purposes; possession with the intent to distribute heroin; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamines; illegal dealing of firearms; felon in possession of a firearm; illegal re-entry; false statements; and aggravated identity theft. When a friend heard about the relationship, she told him it was just like Romeo and Juliet. During one of my trips in September to the neighborhood, I began hearing rumors that some of the Cholos had put out a hit on Alex. Rarely, if ever, do all the Southwest Cholosor the entire membership of any other gang, for that matterget together for a mass meeting. They buy their Dickies pants either at a particular neighborhood grocery store or a nearby uniform shop. But instead of answering, he tells me a story about a girl he had met a year ago. For years, southwest Houston gangbangers, regardless of what gang they belong to, have been buying their clothes at the very same stores. Is Whataburger healthy? Blaring out of a boom box is a rap song that sounds like gunfire. 2023 FOX Television Stations, Giovani Alecio, 26, also known asWhiteboy, Maria Angelica Moreno-Reyna, 51, also known as Patty, Gabriela Gonzalez-Flores, 46, also known as Gabby, Eddie Torres, 38, also known as Monterrey, Jose Luis Moreno, 23, also known as Lucky, Houston resident Bianca Stephanie Reyna, 20, also known as Troubles, Houston resident Claudia Soriano-Hernandez, 26, Houston resident Juan Carlos Contreras Cervantes, 25, Raul Moreno Reyna, 53, also known as Coney, 53, the Houston Law Enforcement Violent Crime Initiative, SirJabari Rice and No. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. RELATED: Feds: Gang brothel enslaved women in Gulfton. I heard about the drive-bys against the gangs that hated us. I got the leg of one of them, then I slashed some motherfers arm. You see them? Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. I want Alex to tell us he kept his head down, refusing to take the bait. The hedges by the managers offices are trimmed, and the bulbs in the streetlights by the front gates are quickly replaced whenever they get shot out. Since its inception, HTRA has been recognized as a national model in identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking and prosecuting those engaged in trafficking offenses. A Texas grand jury indicted 22 alleged members of the Southwest Cholos And it is a war zone, make no mistake about it. Authorities have identified at least six trafficking victims, the youngest of whom was 14. But the fing putos didnt see my knife, says Alex, El Rata. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI Houston field office at 713-693-5000. He met one mother who thought the gang graffiti displayed in her son's bedroom a shrine with a bandanna and rosary was art. 9 Texas smother No. Ron Meinke of the West Belfort Property Owners Association said the presentation on gangs was "fabulous.". A law enforcement official told me that Alexs juvenile record, which by law he could not reveal, is far more impressive, involving a variety of thefts. A Houston man believed to be affiliated with the Southwest Cholos pleaded guilty Tuesday to running security operations at several brothels in . I threw down. Gang Profile - Southwest Cholos. If convicted of sex trafficking, the defendants face a minimum of 15 years and up to life imprisonment. Donna residents Israel Juarez Sifuentes, 43, and Melissa Dominguez 50, also known as Missy, are classified as fugitives and warrants remain outstanding for their arrests. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open. A group of males formed a gang called the Dark Angels and then renamed themselves the Southwest Cholos. Do you really think Im that loco to do a drive-by with an amateur?. Since the age of eleven, he has been a member of the neighborhood chapteror cliqueof Mara Salvatrucha, which is made up of young males whose families immigrated to Houston from El Salvador and other Central American countries. When I ask to see their tattoos, they pull off their T-shirts. - Houston adoptive father of 9 used religion, social media to mask abuse of children, prosecutors say, - Houston police warn of TikTok challenge to steal cars using USB cable. Alex, who knew nothing about the ill-fated love affair, says he went to a video store and rented three different versions of the movie. Lets see the sights. He gives me a look, his eyebrows rising, and he starts laughing again. Fing Cholos. He then tells me hes moving from one apartment to another, just in case. Maria Angelica "Patty" Moreno-Reyna walks into federal court Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in Houston. January 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? Hey, El Bolillo, take us out to eat on your credit card, he says. Julian is only thirteen years old. Southwest Cholos; Texas Mexican Mafia (Mexikanemi) Texas Syndicate; Treetop Bloods/Hilltop Bloods; West Tango; How to identify a gang problem. We had some Cholos come over here and shout, F Bissonet! The case is also an example, of the coordination among law enforcement who are part of. Harris County spent $60 million on court-appointed lawyers with big caseloads. Their, Puro South West Cholos 13 Town Park 8700 free Droopy Rip OG Chivo Rip Sombras Rip Cholio Rip Manny msk cK 60K sb13K ht713K. 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