A man accused of plotting to kill a United States consulate worker and her husband is set to go to trial this week in El Paso. The murders happened during the height of drug-related violence in neighboring Ciudad Juárez.
Prosecutors allege Arturo Gallegos Castrellon is a member of the Barrio Aztecs, a violent border gang that often collaborates with Mexican drug cartels. He is charged in the murder of Leslie Enriquez, an employee of the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez.
She and her husband, a sheriff's deputy, were gunned down in 2010 on their way home from a party. At the time two rival drug cartels were fighting for control of distribution routes in Juárez.
The Associated Press reports Gallegos is listed in an indictment with 34 others, 25 of whom have pleaded guilty and six others who are awaiting extradition from Mexico.
