The U.S. Justice Department released the below
information:
Today, President Donald J. Trump and Attorney
General William P. Barr announced significant cases related to Joint Task Force
Vulcan (JTFV), an initiative launched in August 2019 aimed at disrupting,
dismantling, and ultimately, destroying MS-13.
President Trump and
Attorney General Barr announced a number of significant cases associated with
JTFV, including the first time an MS-13 member has been charged with
terrorism-related offenses, a coordinated multi-district takedown of the
leadership of the Hollywood clique of MS-13, and the Attorney General’s
decision to seek the death penalty against an MS-13 defendant.
“In 2017, the President
directed the Department of Justice to go to war against MS-13, and we did just
that,” said Attorney General Barr. “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. Joint Task Force Vulcan’s
operations have significantly degraded MS-13 capabilities. While there is still
work to be done, the Department of Justice remains committed to protecting
Americans threatened by MS-13, and we will not rest until we have successfully
defeated this transnational criminal organization.”
“Today’s announcements
are the result of tremendous teamwork and coordination between prosecutors and
law enforcement officers across the United States and Central America,” said
JTFV Director John Durham. “MS-13 is a violent transnational criminal
organization, whose criminal activities respect no boundaries. 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.”
In an indictment
unsealed yesterday, Melgar Diaz was charged in the Eastern District of Virginia
with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists; conspiring to kill
or maim persons overseas; conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending
national boundaries; conspiring to finance terrorism, and; conspiring to engage
in narco-terrorism, in addition to racketeering conspiracy and drug
trafficking. This is the first time that an MS-13 member has been charged with
terrorism-related offenses.
Alexi Saenz was
indicted in 2017 in the Eastern District of New York. It is alleged that
between 2016 and 2017 he committed seven murders: the Jan. 28, 2016, murder of
Michael Johnson; the April 29, 2016, murder of Oscar Acosta; the Sept. 13, 2016,
murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens; the Oct. 10, 2016, murder of Javier
Castillo; the Oct. 13, 2016, murder of Dewann Stacks, and; the Jan. 30, 2017,
murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla. Two of the victims were Brentwood high
school students killed with a machete and baseball bat. The Attorney General
has filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty for Saenz.
In a 24 count
indictment unsealed yesterday, the Eastern District of New York, charged eight
MS-13 members, including leaders of the East Coast Hollywood Program,
with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) and Violent
Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) charges related to six murders, two
attempted murders, kidnapping, narcotics, and related firearms offenses.
In a 21-count
indictment unsealed yesterday in the District of Nevada, 13 MS-13 members,
including leaders of the “Hollywood Locos” clique and “Los Angeles Program,”
were charged with various offenses including Continuing Criminal Enterprise
(CCE), narcotics distribution and weapons charges.
In August 2019,
Attorney General Barr created JTFV to carry out the recommendations of the
MS-13 subcommittee formed under the Attorney General’s Transnational Organized
Crime Task Force, which was the result of President 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 restore safety for the American people. The
principal purpose of JTFV is to coordinate and lead the efforts of the Justice
Department and U.S. law enforcement agencies against MS-13 in order to
dismantle the group.
JTFV has successfully
implemented the whole-of-government approach to law enforcement relating to
MS-13; increased coordination and collaboration with foreign law enforcement
partners, including El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala; designated
priority MS-13 programs, cliques and leaders, who have the most impact on the
U.S., for targeted prosecutions, and; coordinated significant MS-13 indictments
in U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, such as the Eastern District of
New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Nevada.
Federal prosecutors
from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal
Division, as well as 10 U.S. Attorney’s Offices have been assigned to
serve JTFV in full-time capacities: the Eastern District of New York; the
Eastern District of Virginia; the District of Nevada; the Southern District of
California; the District of Massachusetts; the Northern District of Ohio; the
District of New Jersey; the Eastern District of Texas; the District of Utah,
and; the District of Columbia. In addition, all Department of Justice law
enforcement agencies are involved in the effort – the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service, and; the Bureau of
Prisons. The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations
has also played a critical role in JTFV.
Attorney General Barr
would also like to thank Attorney General Raul Melara of El Salvador for the
assistance of his office, as well as investigators from El
Salvador’s Policia Nacional Civil, Centro Antipandilla Transnacional unit
for their assistance.
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