Fourteen Texas Mexican Mafia members, including leader Jesus Lopez (also known as "Worst Ever"), are in custody, charged with violating the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization Act to include alleged acts of murder, extortion and drug trafficking in the Eagle Pass area, U.S. attorneys said Friday.
Five members also face charges under the Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering statute.
A five-count federal grand jury indictment returned Wednesday and unsealed Friday charges all 14 members with one count of conspiracy violate the RICO Act, authorities said.
Jesus Lopez, Anselmo Flores, Francisco Hernandez, Hector Martinez and Esteban Munoz are also charged with two counts of Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering. U.S. attorneys said Raul Herrera and Reynaldo Vivian are each charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
The indictment alleged that Flores, under the direction of Lopez and others, stabbed and killed Eagle Pass resident Angel Cantu on Jan. 22, 2011, while other TMM members stood guard with weapons.
U.S. attorneys said TMM members also provided Flores with money to leave town after the killing to deflect law enforcement attention from the criminal enterprise.
At the time of Cantu's killing, the indictment alleged that Hernandez -- aided and abetted by Lopez, Flores, Martinez and Munoz -- assaulted another person with a dangerous weapon.
The indictment further alleged that all 14 TMM members conspired in the distribution of narcotics as well as the extortion of cocaine distributors in Eagle Pass since 2009.
According to the indictment, proceeds from the distribution and extortion were transferred to the San Antonio branch of the TMM.
The indictment also alleged that around early December 2010, Lopez ordered Martinez, Hernandez, Flores and others to retrieve and destroy firearms -- which U.S. attorneys said they did -- that were used during the attempted killing of a person who provided information about the TMM to law enforcement.
Hernandez, Lopez, Flores, Martinez and Munoz face a mandatory life in prison sentence upon conviction of violent crime in aid of racketeering. Those five, along with Herrera, face up to life in federal prison upon conviction of the RICO conspiracy charge.
Authorities said the other eight TMM members face up to 20 years in federal prison upon conviction of the RICO conspiracy charge. Herrera faces between five and 40 years in federal on the drug conspiracy charge; Vivian, up to 20 years in federal prison on the drug conspiracy charge.
Beginning Thursday night and continuing Friday morning, federal, state and local authorities arrested Michael Eric Cantu, Esteban Munoz, and Reynaldo Vivian in Eagle Pass; Claudio Salinas in Del Rio; and, Anselmo Flores near Bismarck, ND. Authorities said the remaining TMM members were already in custody prior to Friday.