Federal prosecutors in Texas connected three members of a cartel-connected human smuggling organization during a jury trial that led to a conviction this week. Prosecutors linked the suspects to large-scale smuggling of migrants, with some migrants dying during smuggling attempts. Two of the convicted members are also tied to kidnappings, hostage taking, extortion of migrants, and multiple murders — including one where the victim was dissolved in acid and then set on fire.
This week, Israel Ramirez Perez, Ricardo Rojas Vasquez, and David Christopher Ewell went through a one-day trial where a jury found them guilty on multiple charges, including human smuggling resulting in death. and conspiracy to commit human smuggling resulting in deaths. Those charges carry a maximum term of life in prison. The men remain in custody while awaiting sentencing.
The three men worked under Alejandro Santoyo Guzman, a man connected to the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. The group was previously designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Government. Court documents from Santoyo Guzman’s case revealed that his cell is responsible for at least 1000 successful smuggling attempts and 300 failed ones. The number of migrants that were actually moved remains unknown. Santoyo Guzman pleaded guilty to the charges against him earlier this year and is expected to be sentenced in December.
According to federal prosecutors, Santoyo Guzman’s group operated in Texas, Oklahoma, and other regions. He would hire drivers who would pick up the illegal aliens who successfully crossed the border and move them to the cities that had been agreed upon. In several of those cases, the smuggling attempts turned deadly as his drivers would try to flee law enforcement and crash. After authorities arrested Santoyo Guzman in Oklahoma, his group continued operating the cell under his indirect supervision. Ewell is believed to have acted as a coordinator and a negotiator.
Credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office
Once the migrants were in certain cities, the members of the group would then continue to extort them under threats of violence to them or their families. In one case in a Houston barbershop, two migrants tried to argue with Rojas Vasquez over the high fees. Surveillance video captured the moment that Rojas Vasquez pulled out a handgun and began firing.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ramirez Perez acted as Santoyo Guzman’s and Rojas Vasquez’s enforcer and is tied to several kidnappings, hostage takings, and murders on both sides of the border. In one case in Mexico, Ramirez Perez shot a man, then tried to dissolve his body in acid. When the tactic proved unsuccessful, he put him in a vehicle and set the car on fire. The gunman then recorded a video of the burning vehicle as proof for his bosses.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
