39-year-old Armando Barragan, Latin Kings Fugitive From Wisconsin Evaded Arrest For 20 Years In Mexico, He Was Taken Into Custody And Facing Extradition To U.S.

Barragan fled to Mexico in 2005 to avoid prosecution before the FBI was able to arrest him on federal charges for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and connected to a homicide incorporated to a racketeering federal charge.

By H. Nelson Goodson 

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

October 25, 2025

García, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico - On Thursday, Armando Barragan, 39, was taken into custody without incident by Mexican state authorities in the state of Nuevo León in Mexico in a joined fugitive apprehension operation with the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Consulate. Barragan was located and arrested in the City of García in the municipality of Monterrey, State of Nuevo León in Mexico, according to the Nuevo León Attorney General's office.

Barragan who fled to Mexico in 2005 to avoid state and federal prosecution was turned over to the U.S. Consulate and the U.S. Marshals Service, on Thursday, October 23, 2025 by Mexican authorities, and is being possessed for extradition to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the U.S., to face state and federal charges.

On September 9, 2004, Barragan, then 18, and a 19th Street Latin Kings gang leader was criminally charged for one felony count for harboring/aiding a felon in Milwaukee County. A felony warrant was issued for Barragan on December 20, 2025 in Milwaukee County.

If convicted, Barragan is facing up to 18 months in prison for harboring and aiding a felon.

Barragan in 2003 ordered Latin Kings members to kill a innocent bystander, Kevin Hirschfield, 26, at a gas station in Cudahy during an altercation with rival gang members. Timothy Vallejo,  25, Emmanuel Martinez, 17, and Mario Banda fired dozens of gunshots striking Hirschfield who died at the scene. Both Vallejo and Martínez are serving federal life prison sentences for Hirschfield's homicide.

Hirschfield's homicide led to a federal criminal investigation that indicted 59 Latin Kings members by the feds.

Then in 2005, Barragan fled to Mexico after federal authorities charged him along with other Latin Kings members with multiple federal crimes including racketeering.

Barragan is also facing a homicide charge for  Hirschfield's murder in federal court, if convicted, he is facing life in a federal prison.