El Paso migrant riot alleged ‘ringleaders’ admitted their rap sheets, selling marijuana at border: sources
Two of the men identified as “ringleaders” of the riot on the border at El Paso admitted to Border Patrol they already have criminal records and had made money selling marijuana, according to internal federal documents seen by The Post.
Eight of nine migrants singled out as the main perpetrators of the stampede, where hundreds of migrants tore down fences at the border and assaulted Texas troops are now in custody facing felony rioting charges, one remains at-large.
After crossing into the US illegally with the group, Venezuelan national Luis Jesus Chacon, 27, and Ecuadorian national Martin Elias Villasis Cedeno, 46, both “readily admitted” to border agents they had sold marijuana to other migrants waiting at the border crossing where the incident took place.
Both also shared their histories of arrests south of the border.
“We bought some marijuana in Juarez, and we sold some of the small baggies to the migrants that were at the border waiting,” Chacon said, adding he needed the money to buy food.
Personal use of marijuana was decriminalized in Mexico in 2021, but to legally possess or sell it an individual needs a permit issued by the country’s health authority.
“We bought the marijuana in Chihuahua, and we sold it to some of the migrants that were at the riverbank waiting to cross, in small baggies,” Cedeno said, adding he also did so out of a need buy food to survive.
Cedeno also admitted he had been arrested three times before attempting to cross the border into the US.
“In 2000, I was arrested for theft, I spent a week in jail. [In] 2004, I was arrested for robbery, I spent a week in jail. [In] 2005, I was arrested for disorderly conduct and simple assault, I spent a day in jail,” Cedeno told agents during a sworn interview.
Chacon said he had been arrested once for being drunk in public in Colombia, where he resided before coming to the US.
He told agents that he didn’t seek to obtain legal status in Colombia because other “Venezuelans say it is not good for Venezuelans to [stop there]” there because then they can’t migrate to the US.
An additional 214 people have been charged with rioting in connection with the attempted incursion at an area known as Gate 36 along the border wall on March 21, which was caught on camera by The Post.
Both Cedeno and Chacon said they had been told by other migrants to cross at Gate 36, which was closed on that day, because they would be let into the US there.
“Everyone says to go to Puerta 36,” Chacon told border agents.
While Cedeno also said “it is common knowledge that Gate 36 in Juarez is where migrants are being allowed to enter.”
Texas DPS reviewed The Post’s video of the altercation to identify the group.
One of the alleged instigators Everisto Benitez Martinez is accused of stomping on a guardsman’s knee repeatedly during the melee.
The riot charges carry a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
“We are more than ready or will be more than ready to go to trial on the case,” El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks recently told The Post.
“Riot cases are very easy to prove, we’re very confident in our evidence and we’re ready to move forward if any of them actually go to trial.”
Chacon said he had hoped to go to Aurora, Colorado, where his brother resides, and to eventually bring his wife and son to the US.
Cedeno said he hoped to reach New York City to be with his cousin, who had a job lined up for him.
The two remain in local custody, awaiting the adjudication of their cases.
Since the incursion, Texas has deployed hundreds of additional troops to the area and put up additional fencing to deter illegal crossings. Mexico has also enhanced patrols on their side of the Rio Grande in Juarez.
