The U.S. Justice Department
released the below information:
An indictment was unsealed in
Central Islip, New York charging 14 of the world’s highest-ranking MS-13
leaders who are known today as the Ranfla Nacional, which operated as the
Organization’s Board of Directors, and directed MS-13’s violence and criminal
activity around the world for almost two decades.
Specifically, the indictment
charges the defendants with conspiracy to provide and conceal material support
to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national
boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism and narco-terrorism conspiracy in
connection with the defendants’ leadership of the transnational criminal
organization over the past two decades from El Salvador, the United States,
Mexico and elsewhere.
Defendant Borromeo Enrique
Henriquez, aka “Diablito de Hollywood,” is widely recognized as the most
powerful member of the Ranfla Nacional. Three of the indicted defendants,
Fredy Ivan Jandres-Parada, aka “Lucky de Park View” and “Lacky de Park View,”
Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, aka “El Grenas de Stoners” and “Oso de Stoners,”
and Hugo Armando Quinteros-Mineros, aka “Flaco de Francis,” remain at large and
should be considered armed and dangerous.
Members of the public with
information concerning their whereabouts are strongly encouraged to contact the
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) toll-free MS-13 tip line,
1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at (866) 347-2423 or https://www.ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form.
Together, FBI and HSI have offered $20,000 in rewards for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of each of the three fugitives. Henriquez
and 10 other defendants are in custody in El Salvador. The United States
will explore options for their extradition to the United States with the
Government of El Salvador.
Acting Attorney General
Jeffrey A. Rosen, Acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme for the Eastern
District of New York (EDNY), Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV) John J.
Durham, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, and Executive Associate Director
Derek Benner of HSI, announced the unsealing of the indictment.
Acting Attorney General Rosen
said, “The indictment announced today is the highest-reaching and most sweeping
indictment targeting MS-13 and its command and control structure in U.S.
history. When Attorney General Barr announced the creation of JTFV in
August 2019, he envisioned a whole-of-government approach that would combine
proven prosecution tools from the past with innovative strategies designed
specifically to eliminate MS-13 leadership’s ability to operate the gang and
direct its terrorist activity. This indictment reflects an important step
toward achieving that goal. By working side-by-side with our U.S. law
enforcement partners and with our partners in El Salvador, we have charged
MS-13’s highest-ranking leaders with operating a transnational criminal
organization that utilizes terror to impose their will on neighborhoods,
businesses and innocent civilians across the United States and Central
America.”
“MS-13 is responsible for a
wave of death and violence that has terrorized communities, leaving
neighborhoods on Long Island and throughout the Eastern District of New York
awash in bloodshed,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme. “Even
when incarcerated, the Ranfla Nacional continued to direct MS-13’s global
operations, recruit new members, including children, into MS-13, and orchestrate
murder and mayhem around the world. Today’s ground-breaking indictment
seeks to demolish MS-13 by targeting its command and control structure and
holding MS-13’s Board of Directors accountable for their terroristic actions.”
“The FBI is committed to combatting
all forms of terrorism that threaten the American people as well as our
international partners,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “In collaboration
with our federal, state, local and international partners, we took aggressive
steps to target and pursue some of the highest levels of leadership of MS-13.
This operation is a clear signal to others who engage in this type of
transnational criminal activity: the FBI will work tirelessly to bring them to
justice wherever they are based.”
“For over a decade, HSI has
remained steadfast in our resolve to dismantle transnational gangs like MS-13,”
said HSI Executive Associate Director Benner. “As one of the most violent
and dangerous criminal enterprises, MS-13 and Ranfla Nacional were directly responsible
for unthinkable violence and criminal activity in communities across the United
States and throughout Central America. As a result of the hard work and
substantial resources dedicated to Joint Task Force Vulcan by our domestic and
international law enforcement partners, this indictment will have a lasting
disruptive effect on the future global illicit activities of this transnational
criminal organization.”
As alleged in the indictment,
the Ranfla Nacional comprises the highest level of leadership of MS-13. In approximately 2002, the
defendants and other MS-13 leaders began establishing a highly organized,
hierarchical command and control structure as a means to effectuate their
decisions and enforce their orders, even while in prison.
They directed acts of
violence and murder in El Salvador, the United States, and elsewhere,
established military-style training camps for its members and obtained military
weapons such as rifles, handguns, grenades, improvised explosive devices (IED)
and rocket launchers. As leaders of MS-13, the defendants controlled
swaths of territory and engaged in public relations efforts on behalf of the
transnational criminal organization. Further, the defendants used MS-13’s
large membership in the United States to engage in criminal activities, such as
drug trafficking and extortion to raise money to support MS-13’s terrorist
activities in El Salvador and elsewhere, and directed members in the United
States to commit acts of violence, including murders, to further its goals.
As further alleged in the
indictment, a central theme of the rules implemented by the Ranfla Nacional was
the requirement of loyalty to MS-13, or to the “barrio.” The requirement
for loyalty was central to all aspects of life for MS-13 members. Members
who disobeyed the rules, showed disloyalty to the gang or to its leaders,
cooperated with law enforcement, or disrespected other members were subject to
severe punishment, including death. The rules put in place by the Ranfla
Nacional allowed the gang to flourish in parts of the United States, including
within the EDNY where, under the defendants’ command, MS-13 has committed
numerous acts of violence—including murders, attempted murders, assaults,
kidnappings, drug trafficking, extortion of individuals and businesses,
obstructed justice and sent dues and the proceeds of criminal activity by wire
transfer to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador.
As further outlined in the
indictment, the Ranfla Nacional has exercised its power over the Government of
El Salvador by committing acts of violence and intimidation over government
officials, law enforcement and the population of El Salvador at large. In
doing so the Ranfla Nacional has
ordered the killing of law enforcement and government officials in El Salvador
as well as ordering a “green light,” or killing, of a FBI Special Agent
detailed to El Salvador investigating MS-13 and its members. Moreover, by
controlling the level of MS-13’s violence, the Ranfla Nacional exercised
leverage with the Government of El Salvador. For example, as alleged in
the indictment, from approximately 2012 until approximately 2015, the Ranfla
Nacional entered into a “truce” with the then-Government of El Salvador.
As part of this agreement,
the Ranfla Nacional directed MS-13 to reduce homicides in El Salvador in
exchange for improved prison conditions, benefits and cash payments. In
2015, when this agreement collapsed, the Ranfla Nacional blamed the United
States, believing that the U.S. government pressured the government of El Salvador
to end the “truce” as a condition of receiving funds from the United
States. Thereafter, in early 2016, the Ranfla Nacional began planning for
a major campaign of coordinated violence in El Salvador in retaliation for the
harsher measures imposed on its members after the end of the “truce.” As
alleged in the indictment, the defendants ordered all cliques in El Salvador to
create a specialized unit of MS-13 members to target police officers, military
members, and government officials in El Salvador. These members underwent
military training at MS-13 military training camps in El Salvador. The
defendants also ordered all cliques, including those in the United States and
in the EDNY, to provide profits from their MS-13-related criminal activity to
be used to purchase weapons for the planned attacks on police in El
Salvador. In total, the defendants collected over $600,000 U.S. dollars
for this fund which was used to purchase weapons, including M-16s and M-60
machine guns, grenades, IEDs, and rocket launchers. Furthermore, the
defendants ordered increased violence, including murders, in the EDNY and other
parts of the United States, which saw a dramatic increase in MS-13 violence in
2016 and 2017.
Finally, as alleged in the
indictment, the Ranfla Nacional directed the expansion of MS-13 activities
around the world, most significantly into Mexico, where several high-ranking
leaders were sent to organize operations there. In Mexico, MS-13 leaders
made connections to obtain narcotics and firearms, conducted business with
Mexican drug cartels such as the Zetas, Gulf Cartel, Cรกrtel de Jalisco Nueva
Generaciรณn (CJNG) and Sinaloa Cartel, and engaged in human trafficking and
smuggling.
In August 2019, Attorney
General William P. Barr created JTFV to carry out the recommendations of the
MS-13 Subcommittee formed under the Attorney General’s Transnational Organized
Crime Task Force (TOC Task Force). The Attorney General’s TOC Task Force
resulted from President Donald J. Trump’s February 2017 Executive Order directing
the Departments of Justice, State, and Homeland Security, and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence to coordinate a whole-of-government approach
to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, such as MS-13, and increase
the safety of the American people.
Since its creation, JTFV has
successfully implemented a whole-of-government approach to combatting MS-13,
including increasing coordination and collaboration with foreign law
enforcement partners, including El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala;
designating priority MS-13 programs, cliques and leaders, who have the most
impact on the United States, for targeted prosecutions; and coordinating
significant MS-13 indictments in U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country,
including the first use of national security charges against MS-13 leaders.
JTFV has been comprised of
members from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the
Criminal Division, as well as U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country,
including the EDNY; the District of New Jersey; the Northern District of Ohio;
the District of Utah; the Eastern District of Virginia; the District of
Massachusetts; the Eastern District of Texas; the Southern District of New
York; the District of Alaska; the Southern District of Florida; the Southern
District of California; the District of Nevada; and the District of
Columbia. In addition, all Department of Justice law enforcement agencies
are involved in the effort, including the FBI; the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the
U.S. Marshals Service; and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. In addition, HSI
also plays a critical role in JTFV.
Acting Attorney General Rosen
expressed his sincere thanks to Attorney General Raul Melara of El Salvador for
the assistance of his office, as well as investigators from El Salvador’s
Policรญa Nacional Civil, Centro Antipandilla Transnacional unit for their
invaluable cooperation. Additionally, numerous Department of Justice
components contributed to this indictment, including: the National Security
Division’s Counterterrorism Section; the Justice Department’s Office of
International Affairs; the Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial
Development, Assistance and Training; and Organized Crime and Gang Section; and
the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Executive Office.
Finally, consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order and the Attorney
General’s whole of government approach, the Department of State has provided
critical support for JTFV’s mission.
The charges announced today
are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. If convicted,
the defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The government’s case is being
prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Donnelly, Matthew Shepherd, and
Stewart Young from JTFV, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul G. Scotti, Justina
L. Geraci, and Megan E. Farrell from the EDNY’s Long Island Criminal Division.
