Five Alleged MS-13 Members Charged Federally for murder, attempted murder
Five Alleged MS-13 Members Charged Federally for Their Participation in a Violent Racketeering Conspiracy Including Eight Murders and Four Attempted Murders
New Federal Indictment Adds an Additional Defendant Charged in a Double Murder-by-Stabbing and Drug Trafficking; Defendants Hail From New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland and Committed Murders throughout Virginia and Maryland. Justice.gov
A federal grand jury returned an eleventh superseding indictment Monday, charging five men in connection with a conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. The eleventh superseding indictment adds a new defendant charged with a racketeering conspiracy related to his membership in MS-13, including a double homicide and drug trafficking.
Charged in the 10-count superseding indictment are Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, aka “Insolente,” aka “Trankilo,” 23, of Landover, Maryland; Luis Arnoldo Flores-Reyes, aka “Maloso,” aka “Lobo,” 39, of Arlington, Virginia; Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, aka “Reaper,” 40, of Long Branch, New Jersey; Jairo Arnaldo Jacome, aka “Abuelo,” 38, of Langley Park, Maryland; and Brayan Alexander Contreras-Avalos, aka “Anonimo,” aka “Malia,” and aka “Humilde,” 20, of Silver Spring, Maryland.
MS-13 is a national and international gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Maryland, including in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, Maryland.
At all times during the conspiracy, members of MS-13 were expected to protect the name, reputation, and status of the gang from rival gang members and other persons. To protect the gang and to enhance its reputation, MS-13 members were expected to use any means necessary to force respect from those who showed disrespect, including acts of intimidation and violence. MS-13 had mottos consistent with its rules, beliefs, expectations, and reputation including “mata, viola, controla,” which translates as, “kill, rape, control,” and “ver, oir y callar,” which means, “see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing.”
MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence both to maintain membership and discipline within the gang, as well as against rival gang members. Participation in criminal activity by a member, particularly in violent acts directed at rival gangs or as directed by gang leadership, increase the respect accorded to that member, resulting in that member maintaining or increasing his position in the gang, and opens the door to a promotion to a leadership position. One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, often referred to as “chavalas,” whenever possible.
The eleventh superseding indictment alleges that from prior to 2015 through at least January 2018, the defendants, as members and associates of MS-13, engaged in a racketeering conspiracy that included extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and robbery. Jacome is an alleged member and associate of the Langley Park Salvatrucha Clique of MS-13. All other defendants are alleged members and associates of the Sailors Clique of MS-13.
All the defendants except Contreras-Avalos were charged in previous indictments with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise related to their involvement in a variety of violent acts committed by the Sailors Clique of MS-13, including multiple murders.
The eleventh superseding indictment adds Contreras-Avalos as an additional defendant and references his alleged involvement in the 2016 murders of two victims who were believed to be members of the rival 18th Street gang.
Specifically, the eleventh superseding indictment charges that in June 2016, Alvarado-Requeno and other high-ranking MS-13 members planned with and directed other members and associates of MS-13 to search for and murder gang rivals known as “chavalas” in and around Hyattsville, Maryland. On June 8, 2016, Alvarado-Requeno allegedly directed Contreras-Avalos and lower-ranking members of MS-13 to murder two individuals who were believed to be members of the rival 18th Street gang. Pursuant to this plan and as directed by Alvarado-Requeno, Contreras-Avalos and other MS-13 members and associates allegedly stabbed the two victims to death.
Alvarado-Requeno and Jacome also are charged in the 2016 murder of a victim in Germantown, Maryland. On Dec. 4, 2016, Alvarado-Requeno, Jacome, and other members and associates of MS-13 allegedly traveled to Germantown with a machete and other weapons for the purpose of murdering an individual as punishment for his infractions against the gang. They allegedly stabbed the victim to death, then fled the area leaving the victim’s body near a creek. The next day, Jacome and other members and associates of MS-13 allegedly returned to Germantown to bury the victim’s body.
Alvarado-Requeno, Flores-Reyes, and Corea-Diaz also are charged in the 2017 murder of a victim in Lynchburg, Virginia. On March 27, 2017, Alvarado-Requeno, Flores-Reyes, and Corea-Diaz allegedly arranged for members and associates of the Sailors Clique to travel from Maryland to Lynchburg for the purpose of murdering an individual in the Lynchburg area. Flores-Reyes allegedly provided the vehicle in which the members and associates drove and called them to provide encouragement to murder the victim. The victim was murdered that same day in Bedford County, Virginia. On March 27 and March 28, 2017, multiple individuals were arrested in connection with the murder. Alvarado-Requeno, Flores-Reyes, and Corea-Diaz made phone calls on those dates trying to locate the individuals who had traveled to Virginia to commit the murder. Two of the participants in the murder escaped from Bedford County and were hidden in Maryland by members and associates of the Sailors Clique.
All defendants are in custody.
BACKGROUND FBI
They perpetrate violence—from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects—to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment. And they form tenuous alliances…and sometimes vicious rivalries…with other criminal groups, depending on their needs at the time.
Who are they? Members of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, who are mostly Salvadoran nationals or first generation Salvadoran-Americans, but also Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and other Central and South American immigrants.
In August this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington Field Office has placed immigration detainers on 10 individuals arrested by the FBI for sex trafficking or physical assault of a minor. The 10 are known members or close associates of MS-13, a notoriously violent transnational criminal gang, designated as a transnational criminal organization by the Department of Treasury in 2012.
The brutal nature of MS-13 crimes has gained notoriety throughout the United States, and their motivation is generally rooted in a desire to kill for the sake of killing. The attacks on their victims are gruesome, typically up close and personal. They often involve mutilation and dismemberment and are sometimes recorded. Because of this, MS-13 crimes often receive a significant amount of media attention.
Law enforcement encounters unique challenges when addressing the MS-13 threat including the limitations of some traditional enforcement strategies; the group’s propensity for gruesome violence; their established international network; and their transient nature. What also concerns us is the age of the average MS-13 member and associate. Typically much younger than those connected to other street gangs, MS-13 members and associates often lack direction, taking cues from the gang instead of relying on a productive family structure. In addition, those emigrating from El Salvador to the United States are known to be exposed and desensitized to extreme violence at an early age.
MS-13 operates in at least 42 states and the District of Columbia and has about 6,000-10,000 members nationwide. Currently, the threat is highest in the western and northeastern parts of the country, which coincides with elevated Salvadoran immigrant populations in those areas. In the southeast and central regions, the current threat is moderate to low, but recently, we’ve seen an influx of MS-13 members into the southeast, causing an increase in violent crimes there.
MS-13 members engage in a wide range of criminal activity, including drug distribution, murder, rape, prostitution, robbery, home invasions, immigration offenses, kidnapping, carjackings/auto thefts, and vandalism. Most of these crimes, you’ll notice, have one thing in common—they are exceedingly violent. And while most of the violence is directed toward other MS-13 members or rival street gangs, innocent citizens often get caught in the crossfire.