MS-13 Members Charged With Gun, Drug Trafficking: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. – A dozen individuals — including three MS-13 gang members — were arrested and charged with drug and gun trafficking and conspiracy of attempted murder after a five-month long investigation, officials announced Thursday.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Suffolk County arrested 12 people from June through October, obtaining more than two kilograms of cocaine; five guns; $25,692 in cash; quantities of pills, including methamphetamine and ecstasy; and various drug paraphernalia consistent with sales, including packaging materials, cutting agents and scales, after executing search warrants this week, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said in a release.

Search warrants were also executed this week at six locations in Brentwood, Bay Shore and Amityville as well as on eight vehicles used to transport narcotics and weapons, officials said.

“Our goal is to protect public safety by focusing on preventing violent crimes from occurring, which is why our strategy has been to collect intelligence and act on that information in real time to prevent gun violence and thwart murders, particularly at the hands of MS-13,” Sini said.

According to Sini, the defendants would sell drugs at bars and restaurants in the Brentwood and Central Islip areas. They also delivered drugs to users’ houses or conducted deals in commercial parking lots throughout Commack, Hauppauge, Brentwood, Central Islip and Bay Shore, officials said.

“Gang activity and gang violence almost always involve drug trafficking,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan. “Our investigations have taken us down numerous paths, but none more dangerous than those precipitated by gang-related crime."

Leonel Padilla-Hernandez, 30, of Brentwood, and Jonathan Feliciano-Ramos, 27, of Brentwood, were the leaders of the local drug distribution network, Sini said. They were involved in the trafficking of cocaine into Suffolk County from Puerto Rico, officials said. On Oct. 14, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, law enforcement intercepted a package in Suffolk County containing a quarter kilogram of cocaine intended to be delivered to Padilla-Hernandez, aka “Payaso”, Sini said.

Padilla-Hernandez also offered to sell firearms to other MS-13 gang members in Suffolk County on several occasions, which would be supplied to him by Felipe Garcia-Martin,50, officials said.
Padilla-Hernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony; second-degree conspiracy, a felony; and three counts of four-degree conspiracy, a felony, officials said. He has been identified by law enforcement as a member of the Brentwood Locotes Salvatrucha (“BLS”) clique of MS-13, Sini said.

Feliciano-Ramos was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony; second-degree conspiracy, a felony; and two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony, Sini said.

A search warrant was also executed on Tuesday at a room rented by Felipe Garcia-Martin, 50, of Bay Shore, at the Hilton Home2 Suites Hotel in New Brunswick, N.J., with assistance from the East Brunswick Police Department, New Brunswick Police Department and Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Sini said. During the search, law enforcement found a loaded .9 mm pistol and arrested Garcia-Martin while he was traveling from New Jersey to Suffolk County, Sini said.

Garcia-Martin was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a firearm, a felony, and fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony, Sini said.

Prosecutors also said that the early stages of the investigation found "evidence of an alleged conspiracy" by several MS-13 gang members to commit a murder. On Aug. 13, law enforcement arrested Franklin Orellana Garcia, 36, of Hempstead, and Mario Mejia-Say, 42, of Hempstead, in connection with the murder conspiracy, Sini said.

Garcia and Mejia-Say were each charged with second-degree conspiracy, a felony, Sini said. Garcia was also charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony, for conspiring to purchase a firearm to use in the murder, Sini said.

In addition, law enforcement arrested Jose Saul Martinez Villalta, a/k/a “Agresor,” 24, of Huntington Station, on June 29 for illegally possessing a loaded handgun, Sini said. He was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony; criminal possession of a firearm, a felony; and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony, Sini said.

Other defendants involved in the drug trafficking operation and their charges included:

• Mauricio Velasquez, 45, of Brentwood, a drug dealer and narcotics supplier to Padilla-Hernandez, was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony; second-degree conspiracy, a felony; and two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony, Sini said.

• Roberto Caro, 51, of Amityville, was the supplier to Padilla-Hernandez and Feliciano-Ramos, officials said. He was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, second-degree conspiracy, a felony, and two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony, Sini said.

The following defendants were also involved in the sale or possession of narcotics or the possession of weapons in Suffolk County, Sini said:

• Roger Arias-Delcid, 41, of Bay Shore, was arrested and charged with second-degree conspiracy, a felony; two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony; and fourth-degree criminal facilitation, a misdemeanor, Sini said. Arias-Delcid has been identified by law enforcement as a member of the Stoner clique of MS-13, officials said.

• Jimmy Flamenco, a/k/a “Smokey,” 38, of Bay Shore was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, Sini said. Flamenco has been identified by law enforcement as a member of the BLS clique of MS-13, officials said.

• Ever Canales-Cruz, 38, of Bay Shore, was arrested and charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Sini said.

• Junyor Rene Ramirez, 30, of Brentwood, was arrested and charged with second-degree conspiracy, felony; two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony; and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Sini said.

• James Gonzalez-Beniquez, 29, of North Amityville, was arrested and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Sini said.

• Cenia Velasquez, 24, of Brentwood, is charged with two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony; and fourth-degree criminal facilitation, a misdemeanor, officials said.

• Ana Cristelia Molina-Villatoro, 40, of Brentwood, is charged with fourth-degree criminal facilitation, a misdemeanor, officials said.

This case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Christiana McSloy and Assistant District Attorney Melisa Bliss, of the Enhanced Prosecution Bureau.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.