Love wasn’t in the air at the Jaguar’s stripclub on Valentine’s Day when motorcycle gang members learned two members of a rival gang were outside the club waiting in line.
Just after 3 a.m. that day, Edinburg police responded to the club for a report of a man who was shot multiple times and another man who had been severely beaten.
As the investigation progressed, investigators determined the man who had been shot was a member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang, while the man who had been beaten was an associate.
The culprits?
Investigators say they were members of the Pagan and Mongol motorcycle clubs, which are allied against the Bandidos.
The gangs have a “smash on sight” policy when they encounter their rivals.
The alleged victims survived the attack and in the ensuing week, Edinburg Police Chief Cesar Torres said his department partnered with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI to launch a massive statewide investigation that has so far resulted in 11 arrests.
Police are still searching for three individuals.
All of those arrested are charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a count of engaging in organized criminal activity. They are being held on $450,000 in bonds.
The case, however, is much larger than the disturbance at the strip club.
Torres said the investigation resulted in 42 arrest warrants for individuals across the state, as well as 10 search warrants not all of which are related to the shooting.
Law enforcement executed those warrants on Wednesday in a statewide operation.
Locally, authorities arrested people in Edinburg, McAllen, Brownsville and Weslaco. These are the suspects wanted for the strip club attack.
Additional suspects wanted for the attack were arrested in Corpus Christi and Dallas.
The suspects from Dallas, Mario Palacios and Allen Soriano, were arraigned Friday afternoon after DPS transported the men to Edinburg.
Torres said that during the Wednesday operation, police seized 19 weapons ranging from pistols to high-powered assault rifles and drug paraphernalia.
Torres, flanked by officials from DPS, the sheriff’s office, DEA and ATF, said the operation wouldn’t have been possible without the agency’s partnership with other law enforcement agencies in the Rio Grande Valley.
DPS Regional Director Victor Escalon echoed that sentiment.
“This is a great example of everybody working together to solve this problem quickly and to hold those responsible accountable and that was done very quickly and swiftly by everybody working together,” he said.
HCSO Chief Deputy Mario Lopez explained during the press conference that it is difficult for local agencies to make these arrests in other parts of Texas without the help of law enforcement partners.
“Again, this is a prime example of all the agencies working together,” he said. “We experience over and over again that we can’t do it by ourselves.”
Torres said the investigation and arrests should send a message to motorcycle gangs that are involved in violent behavior in the city.
“It is very clear to us that public safety is our top priority,” Torres said. “The message is very clear. If you commit a crime in the city of Edinburg, we will ID you. We will track you down. We will arrest you and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
