Operation Rock Water, a multiagency anti-trafficking investigation led by the FBI and DEA, scored another victory in Texas on Thursday arresting twenty-one suspects with El Paso gang ties in a local, state, and federal effort. The individuals apprehended are associated with a gang known as Chuco Tango, a group steeped in criminal activity including the trafficking of methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl and heroin, as well as human smuggling, kidnapping, and possession of machine gun conversion devices known as “switches.”

“The individuals arrested today have been indicted here in El Paso, the Western District and in El Paso County, and are charged with a combination of statutes related to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl,” said U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas and former El Paso district attorney, Jaime Esparza. Drugs pouring into the country have been a longstanding issue at the southern border, however, fentanyl poses an elevated level of safety concerns due to its ability to cause death through very minimal exposure.

Several members of the gang arrested were also charged with felon in possession of a firearm.

“Some of these defendants if convicted, will face up to 20 years in prison or five to 40 years in prison. Some will face from 10 years to life in prison,” according to Esparza, who, along with other law enforcement officials, emphasized the need for partnerships to combat crime. “This operation in particular began in November of last year and spans the entire city of El Paso and beyond. Our law enforcement partnerships reach way beyond El Paso.” He was referring to Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, Socorro and Horizon City police departments, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, area constables, Ysleta del Sur Tribal Police Division, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Operation Rock Water, The FBI Effort…

“Today, the FBI’s criminal focus targets the overall leadership of gangs and criminal enterprises that drive violence in American communities,” said FBI acting special agent in charge for El Paso, Britton Boyd. He also provided background information regarding the origins of the ongoing operation.

“Four years ago, the FBI and our partners at the Texas Anti-Gang Center, the TAG, launched Operation Rock Water and an OCDETF (Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force) investigation targeting Chuco Tango gang members who are violent criminals, for trafficking dangerous drugs, poisoning the streets of El Paso and beyond,” he stated.

To date, Operation Rock Water’s victories for the FBI include 45 search warrants, 44 federal and state arrests, 65 drug seizures, 21 firearms seizures and the recovery of military-grade explosives. Earlier in February, the FBI also arrested Michelle Angelica Pineda ‘La Chely,’ an Artistas Asesinos gang member who was deported, wanted by the Mexican government for her alleged involvement in at least five homicides. Pineda, known for extreme brutality, dismembering bodies and removing hearts to place them in front of Santa Muerte altars, is said to have entered the U.S. illegally, operating a drug trafficking ring for the Artistas Asesinos gang according to the investigation.

DEA Commitment To Defeating Cartels

Towanda Thorne-James is the DEA Special Agent in Charge for the agency’s El Paso Division.

“DEA will continue to leverage our partnerships to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal drug networks operating in El Paso, West Texas, New Mexico and the entire country. And we will continue to harness all of our enforcement and intelligence resources to target those causing the most harm and to hold them responsible,” she said.

To date, DEA contributions to Operation Rock Water have resulted in two warrants that led to nine federal arrests and 16 drug seizures. In addition to the three arrests made in the most recent series of raids, five firearms were also seized, however, the DEA warns that several fugitives from the warrants are still outstanding. 

It is encouraging to see taxpayer dollars cooperating to protect Americans from outside threats, threats that until the political climate heated up on Democrats in the White House, were seemingly allowed to pour into the United States’ southern border virtually unchecked. Perhaps they should form a similarly productive task force to combat criminal migrant gangs currently wreaking violence and havoc in American cities, as we have seen recently in Aurora, Colorado.

Still Wanted

Officials report that four fugitives remain at-large after Thursday’s operation, Carlos Flores, Jessica Rodarte, Jonathan Blanco, and Adriel Belmont.

To submit a tip to the DEA, call 915-832-6000 or visit https://www.dea.gov/submit-tip. Tips also can be submitted to the FBI at 915-832-5000.