President Donald Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced the arrest of three members of the notorious MS-13 gang and promised that more arrests are coming.
The three members of the gang were charged with the near-decade-old slaying of a rival gang member, 22-year-old Gerson Vilelio Vasquez-Portillo, who was killed in Palm Beach, Fla., back in 2015, authorities said, the New York Post reported.
“More arrests are coming,” the attorney general pledged as she stood with law enforcement officials in Fort Lauderdale when making the announcement. “If you are a gang member living in this country, I’d self-deport right now because we’re coming after you.”
“Jose ‘Chango’ Ezequiel Gamez-Maravilla, Wilber ‘Blue’ Rosendo Navarro-Escobar and Hugo ‘Power’ Adiel Bermudez-Martinez were the latest to be slapped with charges over the savage stabbing and shooting of the rival gangbanger in 2015,” The Post reported.
“The three other violent killings in South Florida were also carried out using knives or machetes, authorities said. The cases were only reopened in 2020 after initially going cold,” the report said.
Wilson Tirado-Silva, Miguel Cabrera Granados and Melvin David Cruz-Ortiz were charged with the stabbing death of a 18-year-old Joel Antonio Canizales-Lara, who was killed because he falsely claimed to be a member of the gang.
Omar DeJesus Gutierrez, 18, was murdered in a shooting after he flashed a rival gang sign in 2015. That murder was allegedly ordered by purported MS-13 leader Tirado-Silva. He and Cruz-Ortiz were also charged in the 2015 murder of Chrislet Ondina, 25, who was murdered as part of an initiation to the gang.
“Nine MS-13 terrorists have been taken off our streets and four cold murder cases have been solved thanks to the great investigative work of the FBI and our law enforcement partners,” the attorney general said.
“Let this be a lesson: no matter how long it takes, we will never give up in our pursuit of justice,” Bondi added.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced that “a high-ranking leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, the formal name of the MS-13 gang, was arrested in New York for his alleged role in a conspiracy responsible for 11 killings.
“Joel Vargas-Escobar, also known as Momia, was indicted the District of Nevada and charged with racketeering conspiracy that involved 11 murders. Vargas-Escobar is also charged with two counts of murder in aid of racketeering and associated firearms charges. Vargas-Escobar – who previously had been deported to El Salvador and illegally re-entered the United States – had been a fugitive from justice for nearly four years,” it said in a press release.
“The American people are safer following the arrest of yet another MS-13 leader thanks to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Joint Task Force Vulcan,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “This terrorist entered our country illegally and is accused of orchestrating 11 murders — under President Trump’s leadership, we will not rest until this terrorist organization is completely dismantled and its members are behind bars.”
“The arrest of yet another violent and dangerous MS-13 leader is a major win for our FBI agents, law enforcement partners, and safer American streets,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “Our agents and analysts are continuously coordinating across multiple field offices and investigating with our valued partners to keep this work going — and we will not stop until that work is done.”
“According to court documents, MS-13 is a national and transnational gang composed largely of individuals of Salvadoran or other Central American descent. MS-13 has more than 10,000 members regularly conducting gang activities in at least 10 states and Washington, D.C., with thousands more conducting gang activities in Central America and Mexico,” noted the Justice Department in a press release.
“MS-13 operates through the use of intimidation and violence, including murder, and enriching members and associates through criminal activities, including breaking into houses and stealing firearms, jewelry, cash, and other items of value, and selling narcotics. MS-13 is organized by subsets known as ‘cliques,’ and each clique typically has one or more leaders, commonly referred to as ‘shot callers,’” it said.