Eduardo "Richolm" Ravelo (born October 13, 1968) is a

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

gangster who was a leader of the

Barrio Azteca Barrio Azteca (), or Los Aztecas (), is a Mexican-American street and prison gang originally based in El Paso, Texas, USA and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The gang was formed in the Coffield Unit, located near Tennessee Colony, Texas by ...

gang. He is also a former

fugitive A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

wanted on several charges related to drugs and organized crime. On October 20, 2009, he was named by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

as the 493rd fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. He was captured in Mexico on June 26, 2018.

Background

Since 1994, Ravelo has cultivated relationships with some of the highest-ranking cartel members. He rose to power within the Barrio Aztecas because of his connections with the

Juárez Cartel The Juárez Cartel (, ), also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of several drug trafficking ...

. In 2005, an

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

and former Barrio Azteca lieutenant testified that Ravelo told him to help find fellow gang members who had stolen from the cartel. The informant testified that later he was taken to a house in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, where a gang member's mouth, wrists and ankles were bound with

duct tape Duct tape or duck tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. A variety of constructions exist using different backings and adhesives, and the term "duct tape" has been genericized to refer to all o ...

. He was delivered to the Juarez cartel and never heard from again. In March 2008, he became the leader of the gang shortly after betraying his predecessor, stabbing him several times and shooting him in the neck. Ravelo and his gang members are allegedly hit-men for a Mexican

drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...

and are responsible for multiple homicides. Barrio Azteca has approximately 600 active members who engage in illegal activities such as arson, assault, auto theft,

contract killing Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

, extortion, illegal immigration, kidnapping, money laundering, murder, prostitution, racketeering, human and drug trafficking. Many of the members are in American and Mexican prisons and benefit from the gang's profits by having funds placed in their prison commissary accounts. Ravelo is originally from Mexico, but has permanent resident status in the United States, helping him to cross the

Mexico – United States border Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Ravelo was believed to be hiding with his wife and children in a Barrio Aztecas-controlled neighborhood in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. He was said to have bodyguards and armored vehicles to protect him from rival gangs and rival cartels. Federal authorities stated that Ravelo might have altered his appearance by plastic surgery, and fingertips to disguise his fingerprints. On June 26, 2018, the FBI announced that Ravelo along with several other Barrio Azteca gang members had been arrested during a police raid in Mexico.

References

External links

FBI press release announcing Ravelo's addition to the listRavelo's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive AlertRavelo's profile on ''America's Most Wanted''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravelo, Eduardo 1968 births American drug traffickers American crime bosses FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Fugitives Living people Mexican drug traffickers Mexican emigrants to the United States Mexican crime bosses People from El Paso, Texas People of the Mexican Drug War