Deputies Arrest Member Of Notorious Crime Gang In Wimauma

WIMAUMA, FL – Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested a member of the notorious international gang, MS-13, in Wimauma after neighbors reported seeing a man walking around with a rifle.

Deputies were called to Lenfred Drive and Palmetto Road in Wimauma around 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, where neighbors told them they saw a man standing in the street with a rifle, yelling at passing cars to stop. At one point, he jumped in front of cars to force them to stop.

Deputies searched the area and found Raul Garcia Jr. carrying a rifle and wearing only black shorts. He ran into nearby woods when deputies ordered him to drop the rifle.

K9 units and a helicopter began searching for Garcia in the woods. They found the Norinko SKS AK-47 rifle and a green bag that he’d been carrying. Inside the bag were three small baggies containing a white substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. They also found four meth pipes and five live .38-caliber rounds.

Garcia was eventually located Monday morning, Feb. 20, on U.S. 301 near State Road 674 in Wimauma. According to the sheriff’s office, he is a certified member of the Mara Salvatrucha-13 gang founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s. The gang, which now numbers an estimated 70,000 members, is involved in child prostitution, drug trafficking, human trafficking and racketeering. Members are identified by unique body tattoos that represent their own sign language.

Garcia was charged with improper exhibition of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His connection to Wimauma is unclear.

Image via Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office