'Medieval-Style' Malibu Hills Murder Leads To Ms-13 Bust

LOS ANGELES, CA — Authorities this week arrested nearly two dozen people in a massive organized crime case, alleging MS-13 gang members have been terrorizing the Los Angeles region with a series of grisly slayings. The indictments announced Tuesday allege members of the gang's San Fernando Valley stronghold committed seven murders, sometimes involving torture and dismemberment in the hills around Malibu and the Angeles National Forest.

The murders —frequently carried out with with machetes, knives and baseball bats — often targeted people gang leaders suspected of cooperating with authorities, federal prosecutors allege. In one case, the defendants allegedly targeted a homeless man who was temporarily living in a park controlled by the gang.

“We have now taken off the streets nearly two dozen people associated with the most violent arm of MS-13 in Los Angeles, where the gang is believed to have killed 24 people over the past two years,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “This investigation has been an unqualified success. The collaborative law enforcement effort solved several murder cases and dealt a severe blow to members of the gang who engaged in acts of brutality not seen in the region for over 20 years."

The arrests were the culmination of an investigation by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs, which includes the FBI, Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Three people named in the indictment were arrested over the past few days in the Los Angeles area, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. A fourth defendant was arrested over the weekend in Oakland. The other 18 defendants were arrested over the past year, including some who were taken into custody on state and federal charges.

“Taking violent offenders off the street should send a message to MS-13 members and their associates that medieval-style violence and senseless murder will not be tolerated in Los Angeles,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Working with our local partners, we expect to impact MS-13’s influence in gang-occupied communities."

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the indictment specifically targeted a San Fernando Valley-area clique of the gang. Authorities said one of the killings outlined in the indictment occurred on March 6, 2017, when a rival gang member was abducted and driven to a remote portion of the Angeles National Forest, where six people attacked him with a machete.

"The victim was dismembered, and his body parts were thrown into a canyon after one of the defendants allegedly cut the heart out of the victim's body," according to federal prosecutors.

The bulk of the crimes alleged in the indictment, including the seven killings, began in 2017 and continued into this year. The charges include murders carried out with machetes, knives and baseball bats, all committed in the Angeles National Forest. The indictment also outlines killings in the Malibu hills and North Hollywood.

City News Service contributed to this report.