Global Courant
The US authorities announced new arrests and charges in an open case against a gang of the Salvatrucha gang, including one of the leaders of New York and the entire country, Edenilson Velásquez Larin, and about twenty gang members who operated in the Big Apple.
Security forces arrested 12 new members of this group also known as MS-13 this morning, while 11 already were, reported the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The arrests were carried out mostly in New York, but also in other states of the country such as New Jersey, Colorado or North Carolina.
Velásquez, 33, also known as “Aggressor”, “Saturno” and “Paco”, is considered the leader of the Fulton Locos Salvatruchas gang, both locally (in the New York borough of Queens) and nationally, where the mara Salvatrucha operates as “US Program” or “LA Program”.
According to a brief presented to the judge, Velásquez is currently in the custody of immigration authorities in the state of Ohio and will be formally detained in the coming days.
The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the national structure of the gang is in charge, among other things, of collecting money from local groups as well as ordering the murder of witnesses or members of rival groups.
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For their part, “MS-13 gangs help each other to commit violent crimes, harbor fugitives, acquire firearms, distribute narcotics, and other things,” the indictment states.
The 23 alleged gang members are accused of murder, belonging to an armed gang, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Velásquez must respond to 11 charges, including possession of firearms, distribution of cocaine or having ordered the death of Víctor Alvarenga, shot dead in November 2019.
Also among the detainees is the considered lieutenant of the gang José Espinoza Sánchez and Velásquez’s girlfriend, Blanca García.
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“The murders and other violent crimes allegedly committed by these defendants were brutal, cold-blooded and senseless,” US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, was quoted as saying in a statement.
