Current:Home > StocksNational MS-13 gang leader, 22 members indicted for "cold-blooded" murders-LoTradeCoin
National MS-13 gang leader, 22 members indicted for "cold-blooded" murders
View Date:2024-12-24 07:10:30
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged an alleged leader national leader and 22 members of the MS-13 gang with murder and other acts of violence.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced a 48-count superseding indictment against Edenilson Velasquez Larin, "allegedly a national leader of the MS-13 and the Fulton Locos Salvatruchas (Fulton) clique, for his leadership role in allegedly ordering murders, drug distribution, and money laundering for the MS-13."
The indictment detailed a number of murders and attempted murders carried out by the gang against rival gang members as well as their own, often using guns and machetes.
Prosecutors said that starting in late 2019 alleged Fulton clique leaders Velasquez Larin and Espinoza Sanchez ordered alleged MS-13 members, including Jose Arevalo Iraheta, Oscar Hernandez Baires, and Erick Zavala Hernandez, to scour the Elmont, New York, neighborhood in search of rival 18th Street members to kill for encroaching on their territory.
In spring 2020, Velasquez Larin, also known as "Agresor," "Saturno," and "Paco," allegedly arranged for Fulton clique members from Maryland to travel to New York to assist in the search for rival gang members in Elmont, according to prosecutors.
"Alleged MS-13 member Jose Arevalo Iraheta and a Fulton member from Maryland ultimately found an individual they believed to be an 18th Street member and shot at him," prosecutors said.
The superseding indictment also included charges against 22 associates of MS-13 and the Fulton clique for their roles in multiple alleged murders, attempted murders, drug distribution and money laundering.
Among the new charges was a murder charge against Leyla Carranza for allegedly luring 17-year-old Andy Peralta to a park in Queens, New York, so that he could be fatally beaten, stabbed, and strangled, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors had previously charged alleged MS-13 associates Juan Amaya-Ramirez and Oscar Flores-Mejia with Peralta's murder.
"Peralta's killers photographed themselves posing over Peralta's corpse while they displayed MS-13 gang signs with their hands," prosecutors said. The photo was found in Amaya-Ramirez's iCloud account by authorities, according to prosecutors.
Wednesday's indictment also added new charges in the 2018 shooting murder of Victor Alvarenga near his home in Queens, naming alleged MS-13 national leader Velasquez Larin, Jose Espinoza Sanchez, and Tito Martinez-Alvarenga. Prosecutors said Larin gave the order to kill Alvarenga and Sanchez oversaw the murder.
The indictment additionally charged Emerson Martinez-Lara and Ismael Santos-Novoa for their alleged roles as lookouts during the 2019 murder of Abel Mosso on a subway platform in Queens. Prosecutors had previously charged Ramiro Gutierrez, Tito Martinez-Alvarenga and Victor Lopez in Mosso's murder.
Prosecutors alleged that on the afternoon of Feb. 3, Lopez and Martinez-Alvarenga followed Mosso, who they believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang, onto a train platform in Queens. Mosso was also trailed by Gutierrez.
Once inside the subway car, Lopez and Martinez-Alvarenga assaulted Mosso and then dragged him out onto the platform at a later stop.
"The defendants pulled out a gun, but Mosso wrestled it away. Gutierrez shouted in Spanish, 'Nobody gets involved, we're MS-13, we're going to kill him'," prosecutors said. Gutierrez was able to grab the gun from Mosso and allegedly shot him multiple times, killing him, according to prosecutors.
Among new charges for murder committed within the gang was a murder charge against MS-13 member Oscar Hernandez Baires, who allegedly shot and killed MS-13 member Eric Monge in 2020 while he was sitting in a parked car near his Queens home.
Monge had previously assaulted Baires, according to prosecutors.
"Monge's wife had just taken their young children into their residence and returned to the car to find parking when Hernandez Baires and the other individual opened fire," prosecutors said.
Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, called the alleged actions carried out by the alleged gang members "cold-blooded."
"The murders and other crimes of violence allegedly committed by these defendants were brutal, cold-blooded, and utterly senseless," Peace said. "This Office and our law enforcement partners are working tirelessly to dismantle the MS-13 at all of its levels, and we will not relent until this transnational criminal organization, its leaders, members, and associates are held accountable for the extreme violence and other criminal activity that they have perpetrated in our communities."
veryGood! (141)
Related
- How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
- FBI ends investigation of car wreck at Niagara Falls bridge, no indication of terrorism
- Judges rule against Tennessee Senate redistricting map over treatment of Nashville seats
- Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses accused of 1989 sexual assault in lawsuit by former model
- Zendaya Shares When She Feels Extra Safe With Boyfriend Tom Holland
- An alligator was spotted floating along Texas' Brazos River. Watch the video.
- Humanitarians want more aid for Gaza, access to hostages under Israel-Hamas truce. And more time
- Is America ready for 'Super Pigs'? Wild Canadian swine threaten to invade the US
- The Surreal Life’s Kim Zolciak Fuels Dating Rumors With Costar Chet Hanks After Kroy Biermann Split
- Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius up for parole Friday, 10 years after a killing that shocked the world
Ranking
- A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
- Main Taiwan opposition party announces vice presidential candidate as hopes for alliance fracture
- Endangered whale last seen 3 decades ago found alive, but discovery ends in heartbreak
- Diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China will meet about resuming a trilateral leaders’ summit
- Pie, meet donuts: Krispy Kreme releases Thanksgiving pie flavor ahead of holidays
- Alt.Latino: Peso Pluma and the rise of regional Mexican music
- Mexico rights agency says soldiers fired ‘without reason’ in border city in 2022, killing a man
- A Thanksgiving guest's guide to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Recommendation
-
'Full House' star Dave Coulier diagnosed with stage 3 cancer
-
'SNL' trio Please Don't Destroy on why 'Foggy Mountain' is the perfect Thanksgiving movie
-
A mark of respect: Flags to be flown at half-staff Saturday to honor Rosalynn Carter, Biden says
-
The 25 Best Black Friday 2023 Beauty Deals You Don't Want to Miss: Ulta, Sephora & More
-
Today Reveals Hoda Kotb's Replacement
-
Jamie Foxx accused of 2015 sexual assault at a rooftop bar in new lawsuit
-
Mexico rights agency says soldiers fired ‘without reason’ in border city in 2022, killing a man
-
Thanksgiving Grandma Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton Reunite for Holiday for 8th Year