US

MS-13 Gang Leaders Charged With Crimes Ranging From Terrorism To Murder

(Photo by ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Kaylee Greenlee Immigration and Extremism Reporter
Font Size:

One suspected MS-13 member has been charged with terrorism, another faces the death penalty and other reported gang leaders face charges of kidnapping, murder and racketeering, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

The investigation and indictments targeted leaders of the MS-13, and represent the first time a member of the organization has been charged with terrorism, according to a DOJ press release.

“In 2017, the President directed the Department of Justice to go to war against MS-13, and we did just that,” Republican Attorney General William Barr said in a statement Wednesday. “In coordination with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department’s law enforcement components have successfully investigated, charged, and arrested command and control elements of MS-13 responsible for murder,” Barr said.

Eight MS-13 members were indicted on charges of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization and Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering in connection with six murders, two attempted murders, kidnapping, firearms offenses and narcotics in the Eastern District of New York, according to the DOJ.

Melgar Diaz of the Eastern District of Virginia is the first MS-13 member to be charged with terrorism, the DOJ said.

Diaz was charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to kill or maim people overseas, conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiring to finance terrorism and conspiring to engage in narco-terrorism, according to the DOJ. He was also charged with drug trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

The DOJ also announced that it will seek the death penalty for MS-13 member Alexi Saenz after he was indicted in 2017 for seven murders in the Eastern District of New York. Two of the murders were committed with a machete and baseball bat, the DOJ said. (RELATED: New York Authorities Charge Nearly 100 People In Massive Takedown Of MS-13 Gang)

Thirteen MS-13 members were indicted on charges of Continuing Criminal Enterprise, weapons and narcotics distribution in the District of Nevada, according to the DOJ. Among the members indicted were leaders of the “Hollywood Locos” and “Los Angeles Program,” the DOJ said.

“MS-13 is a violent transnational criminal organization, whose criminal activities respect no boundaries,” Joint Task Force Vulcan Director John Durham said in a statement. “The only way to defeat MS-13 is by targeting the organization as a whole, focusing on the leadership structure, and deploying a whole-of-government approach against a common enemy.”

The Joint Task Force Vulcan was created in August 2019 with the goal of dismantling MS-13, according to the DOJ. President Donald Trump directed the government to “coordinate a whole-of-government approach to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, such as MS-13, and restore safety for the American people,” in a 2017 executive order.

The task force coordinated with foreign law enforcement and agencies across the U.S., according to the DOJ.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel