Texas Mexican Mafia members arrested in raids

Alleged members and associates of the Texas Mexican Mafia, in cuffs and chains, leave the federal courthouse in San Antonio on Friday, May 19, 2017. Nearly 50 people, 37 of them charged federally, were arrested as part of a crackdown on the gang. less Alleged members and associates of the Texas Mexican Mafia, in cuffs and chains, leave the federal courthouse in San Antonio on Friday, May 19, 2017. Nearly 50 people, 37 of them charged federally, were ... more Photo: By Guillermo Contreras Photo: By Guillermo Contreras Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Texas Mexican Mafia members arrested in raids 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Area authorities on Friday arrested nearly 50 alleged members or associates of the Texas Mexican Mafia, mostly on drug and firearm charges.

The hits on the prison-born gang, headquartered in San Antonio, comes as part of an investigation that has lasted about two years.

A federal grand jury indicted 37 gang members or associates Wednesday as part of the investigation led by the FBI that involved several other agencies. The indictment includes charges stemming from shoot-outs, home invasions, robberies, drug-trafficking and the gang’s collection of “the dime,” a 10-percent street tax on other drug dealers.

In a related investigation involving FBI agents from Del Rio, more than 10 people were arrested in the Hondo area on state charges, the FBI said.

The 22-page indictment outlines a brief history of the gang, which has a paramilitary structure and whose members report to a general in the free world. The gang is run by imprisoned members, and its president is still considered to be Heriberto “Herb” Huerta, a founder who is serving life sentences in a super-maximum security prison in Colorado.

Among the 37 charged federally and arrested are Raul “Alto” Ramos, the gang’s purported general in the free world; Victor “Café” Garcia, a captain; Mariano “Huesos” Valdez, a lieutenant of lieutenants; and Angel “Mad/Che” Cantu Garcia, another lieutenant of lieutenants.

The gang employs a “blood in, blood out” credo.

“Once you’re in, that’s it brother,” said retired Texas parole officer Angel Vasquez, who supervised numerous members of the Texas Mexican Mafia over several years.

The Texas Mexican Mafia, also known as “Mexikanemi,” had been one of the largest in the state and in the Bexar County Jail. But a series of crackdowns on the gang has imprisoned many “old-school” members, or some have died off, gang experts say. The gang has since been surpassed in numbers in the local jail by the Tango Blast, whose San Antonio sect is known as the Tango Orejones. That gang has clashed repeatedly with the TMM in jail and on the streets.

Among the litany of criminal incidents listed in the indictment are shoot-outs the Texas Mexican Mafia had with the Tango Orejones. On Jan. 13, for instance, three TMM members, Jimmy “Turtle/Reaper” Perez, Johnny “Mad Cow” Fonseca and Robert “Chino” Rodriguez tried to collect the dime from an Orejón gang member at an unspecified residence in San Antonio, and a shoot-out ensued, the indictment said.

Other crimes include discharging a firearm on Jan. 30, when Marcelino DeLeon, 42, was killed.

Bexar County sheriff’s investigators have said DeLeon was known to be involved with the Mexican Mafia but had been saying he was “out.” He had been looking to sell a large amount of methamphetamine a few days before he was killed, according to court records.

Johnny Ray Morales, 29, was charged in state court with DeLeon’s murder that resulted from an attempt to steal the drugs in the 13800 block of West Loop 1604, investigators have said. No one is charged in the federal indictment with DeLeon’s murder.

Besides the FBI, the raids involved the San Antonio Police Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the New Braunfels Police Department, the FBI said in a statement. Officers with the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, San Antonio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Homeland Security Investigations and federal task force officers with the Austin Police Department also assisted in the operation, the FBI said.

Most of those indicted appeared in federal court Friday, though three remained fugitives, officials said. Bail hearings were set for May 24 and June 1.