U.S. indicts leader that controls drug corridor near El Paso

By Daniel Borunda / For the Sun-News
Article Launched: 04/07/2008 06:18:02 AM MDT



EL PASO — The reputed leader of the Escajeda drug-trafficking family that runs the smuggling corridor on the border east of El Paso has been indicted by the U.S. government, Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Friday.

Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, alias "El Riquin," is considered a fugitive and is the target of a multi-agency organized-crime task force for allegedly running a ring that transported shipments of marijuana and cocaine into the U.S. for Mexican drug cartels, DEA officials said.

Escajeda, a Mexican citizen, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances. If convicted, he faces between 10 years and life in prison.

The Escajedas, who are based in the village of Guadalupe across the Rio Grande near Tornillo, are believed to control a 120-mile corridor east of El Paso, DEA spokesman Matthew Taylor said. "When you control a part of the border, it's a major organization."

The Escajeda organization allegedly smuggled more than 400,000 pounds of marijuana between 2000 and 2006.

In 2006, members of the Escajeda ring were involved in the highly publicized border standoff between Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies and men dressed as Mexican soldiers when a drug-filled

SUV became stuck in the Rio Grande.
Months after the standoff, Mexican federal agents raided 18 houses in Guadalupe that belonged to the Escajeda family and seized vehicles and even two tigers, the DEA and newspaper archives said.

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