SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Thursday U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas announced at a press conference that 24 alleged members and associates of the Texas prison gang Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) were indicted in San Antonio for criminal charges related to their alleged drug and firearm trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Comeaux Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Division stated \u201cmembers rely on the money made outside to fund members behind bars and help HPL as an organization thrive at the devastating expense of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law enforcement arrested 19 alleged gang members and associates Tuesday in an operation involving federal, state and local agencies. Five of the 24 defendants were already in federal or state custody prior to Tuesday\u2019s arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) is a prison gang which operates in Texas prisons and has strong street ties to South Texas. The gang is involved in narcotics, firearms, and human trafficking. HPL maintains ties with the Mexican Cartels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s s indictment carries 24 counts including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking; conspiracy to traffic firearms; and more. If convicted, the defendants face varying ranges of time in prison, from maximum sentences of 15 or 20 years to penalties of five years to life in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Thursday\u2019s press conference the U.S. Attorney thanked federal, state and local law enforcement partners, led by the FBI and DEA for helping to reduce violence, and firearm and drug crimes in the communities. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza stated, \u201ctheir professionalism, determination, and expertise help protect the safety of our citizens and allow our federal prosecutors to keep violent criminals out of our communities for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux for the Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Division stated \u201cthese arrests will put a dent into HPL\u2019s drug trafficking activities that have been their main source of income.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defendants arrested Tuesday are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
1. Daniel Natividad aka \u201cDanny Boy,\u201d 50, of Hebronville<\/li>\n\n\n\n
2. Brian Zepeda aka \u201cGet Down\u201d, 39, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
3. Roberto Ibarra aka \u201cBobby,\u201d 44, of Laredo<\/li>\n\n\n\n
4. Mike Rayas Carrillo aka \u201cGordo,\u201d 37, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
5. Jesus Mendoza Jr. aka \u201cChivo,\u201d 50, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
6. Gilberto Garcia aka \u201cGibo,\u201d 42, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
7. Ramon Lozoya aka \u201cBulldog,\u201d 41, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
8. Maximo Flores Jr., 44, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
9. Miguel Zamora Rosas aka \u201cEight Ball\u201d, 39, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
10. Paul Garcia aka \u201cBaby Paul\u201d, 38, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
11. Abraham Pagan aka \u201cShank,\u201d 44, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
12. Mark Anthony Avila, 43, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
13. Rudy Hugo Lopez, 34, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
14. Robert Davalos Alvarado aka \u201cPork Chop,\u201d 41, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
15. Raymond Medina aka \u201cCrime\u201d, 35, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
16. Roger Hilburn, 33, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
17. Armando Perales aka \u201cPitbull,\u201d 54, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
18. Ruben Rivera, 36, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
19. JR Perales, 31, of San Antonio
    The following defendants were already in custody:<\/li>\n\n\n\n
20. Antonio Rios Jr. aka \u201cTone\u201d, 33, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
21. Vidal Morales Jr. aka \u201cMoe\u201d, 49, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
22. Ronald Mendoza aka \u201cRonnie,\u201d 41, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
23. Carlos Bernal aka \u201cGuero,\u201d 46, of San Antonio<\/li>\n\n\n\n
24. Adrian Calvillo aka \u201cToken,\u201d 40, of San Antonio<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The FBI and DEA are leading the investigation with valuable assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office, and San Antonio Police Department.
    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Nowinksi and Fidel Esparza III are prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Thursday U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas announced at a press conference that 24 alleged members and associates of the Texas prison gang Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) were indicted in San Antonio for criminal charges related to their alleged drug and firearm trafficking. Daniel Comeaux Special Agent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpt.hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}