Prosecutors on Wednesday charged an alleged leader national leader and 22 members of the MS-13 gang with murder and other acts of violence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced a 48-count superseding indictment against Edenilson Velasquez Larin, “allegedly a national leader of the MS-13 and the Fulton Locos Salvatruchas (Fulton) clique, for his leadership role in allegedly ordering murders, drug distribution, and money laundering for the MS-13.”
The indictment detailed a number of murders and attempted murders carried out by the gang against rival gang members as well as their own, often using guns and machetes.
Prosecutors said that starting in late 2019 alleged Fulton clique leaders Velasquez Larin and Espinoza Sanchez ordered alleged MS-13 members, including Jose Arevalo Iraheta, Oscar Hernandez Baires, and Erick Zavala Hernandez, to scour the Elmont, New York, neighborhood in search of rival 18th Street members to kill for encroaching on their territory.
In spring 2020, Velasquez Larin, also known as “Agresor,” “Saturno,” and “Paco,” allegedly arranged for Fulton clique members from Maryland to travel to New York to assist in the search for rival gang members in Elmont, according to prosecutors.
“Alleged MS-13 member Jose Arevalo Iraheta and a Fulton member from Maryland ultimately found an individual they believed to be an 18th Street member and shot at him,” prosecutors said.
The superseding indictment also included charges against 22 associates of MS-13 and the Fulton clique for their roles in multiple alleged murders, attempted murders, drug distribution and money laundering.
Among the new charges was a murder charge against Leyla Carranza for allegedly luring 17-year-old Andy Peralta to a park in Queens, New York, so that he could be fatally beaten, stabbed, and strangled, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors had previously charged alleged MS-13 associates Juan Amaya-Ramirez and Oscar Flores-Mejia with Peralta’s murder.
