Crackdown Nets 39 MS-13 Arrests In 30 Days

As the war on deadly street gangs heats up across Long Island and the nation, a new crackdown has netted 39 MS-13 arrests in 30 days, according to officials.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations New York, along with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, announced the recent launch of "Operation Matador" and the Department of Homeland Security's Transnational Organized Crime Initiative, a unified effort dedicated to combat the proliferation of MS-13 and other transnational criminal gang activity in the New York City area, including Long Island, a release from ICE said.

The joint initiative is made of of HSI special agents, ERO deportation officers and the ICE Office of Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and state and local law enforcement partners, including the Suffolk County Police Department, Nassau County Police Department, and the New York City Police Department, officials said.

“Transnational gangs like MS-13 bring nothing but violence and conflict to our communities and their presence will not be tolerated. Their vicious criminal activities present an ongoing challenge for law enforcement everywhere,” said Angel M. Melendez, special agent in charge of HSI New York.

A total of 45 individuals were arrested during the ongoing enforcement effort, all of which were confirmed as gang members and affiliates, including 39 affiliated with MS-13, two with the Sureños, one with the 18th Street Gang, one with the Latin Kings, and one with Los Niños Malos and one with Patria, the release said.

Of the gang members arrested during the ongoing enforcement action, 20 had additional criminal histories, including prior convictions for assault and weapons charges, and one has a pending felony grand larceny charges and a final order of removal, officials said.

Those arrested, all male, included individuals from four countries, with 27 from El Salvador, 11 from Honduras, five from Mexico, and two from Guatemala.

Largest number of arrests reported in Suffolk County

Suffolk County accounted for 33 arrests, the largest number of arrests during the operation to date, but DHS TOCI personnel conducted enforcement actions in multiple communities throughout Long Island and New York City, officials said; Nassau County had 8, Queens, 3 and Brooklyn, 1.

In addition, 12 arrested had crossed the border as unaccompanied minors, all of which were confirmed as MS-13 gang members; three of those nabbed entered the United States with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, all of whom were also confirmed to MS-13 gang members, officials said.

Some of the individuals arrested during the enforcement action will be presented for federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation, a federal felony. Those not being criminally prosecuted will be processed for removal from the country. Individuals who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country or federally charges.

The remaining defendants are entered into immigration proceedings and will go before an immigration judge.

The investigation was led by HSI special agents working jointly with ERO officers out of New York and was conducted under the auspices of Operation Community Shield with support from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and Southern District of New York, OPLA, USCIS, CBP, SCPD, NCPD and NYPD.

Operation Matador is the latest example of ICE’s ongoing efforts, begun in 2005 under Operation Community Shield, to target violent gang members and their associates, eradicate the violence they inflict upon local communities and stop the cash flow to transnational organized crime groups.

Since 2005, HSI special agents working in conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have made more than 47,000 gang-related arrests, officials said.

Operation Community Shield is a global initiative in which HSI collaborates with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to combat the growth and proliferation of transnational criminal street gangs, prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs in the United States and abroad; partnerships with state, local, federal and international law enforcement agencies are critical.

“These individuals are members of a violent street gang actively wreaking havoc in the community. This unified effort is about keeping New York citizens safe,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO New York. "We will not rest until our communities are safer and individuals like these are brought to justice.”

Suffolk County ravaged by MS-13 gang activity

Suffolk County has been thrust into the international spotlight as a series of horrific gang slayings has shocked the nation and the world, including the gruesome discovery of four bodies in Central Islip on Long Island — the four young men are believed to have been victims of the deadly MS-13 street gang.

Lawmakers, educators and a horrified public have been working to shine a light on MS-13 and seek answers on how to stem the tide of escalating violence.

Patch has taken an in-depth look at the deadly gang in recent months.

The vicious murders have shocked a nation, with President Donald Trump vowing to crack down on the violence and blaming former President Barack Obama in a tweet for failed policies that have allowed gang members to cross the border at alarming rates.

In recent weeks, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke on Long Island about federal efforts to take down and "demolish" MS-13. "We are targeting you."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone also laid out a plan in April to tackle and weaken the emerging MS-13 threat and eradicate the criminal organization from the county, following the brutal murders of the four teenagers in Central Islip on Long Island.

The proposals outlined would include working together with the federal government to establish a notification process to inform a local government and school district when an unaccompanied minor is placed in a community, a release said.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo also vowed to help tackle the gang issue with a new task force.

MS-13, which was formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s by immigrants fleeing El Salvador's civil war, is known for its brutal violence, including machete attacks and home invasions.

The four young men found dead on the night of April 12 at Central Islip Recreation Village Park suffered trauma from a sharp-edged instrument. They were only 16, 18, 18 and 20 years-old; their lives just beginning.

One of the victims, Jorge Tigre, a Bellport High School honor student, was not a gang member and allegedly became a target after he refused to associate with gang members following the murder of two girls in Brentwood, Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, who were murdered in September by MS-13 gang members with machetes.

Thirteen MS-13 members have been charged with seven murders, including those of Mickens and Cuevas, that occurred in Brentwood and Central Islip over the past several years.

Tigre's sister Monica Tigre, in an interview with Patch, declined to discuss what may have led to her brother's murder, but said she and her family are left with only memories.

"The only thing I can said he was a wonderful person. He was always smiling and helping my family and me. I will remember him — his smile and his kindness," Tigre said.

One former MS-13-member shared his gripping story with Patch in a recent interview.

In that same report, Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, a non-profit volunteer safety patrol organization whose members are known for their trademark red berets, spoke to Patch about the path MS-13 has taken to Long Island.

From the federal government to local law enforcement, officials appalled by the staggering violence have vowed a crackdown.

“The Suffolk County Police Department is doing everything in our power to solve these murders. It’s all hands on deck,” Suffolk Police Commissioner Tim Sini said. “We are working closely with the FBI to solve these homicides.”

Unaccompanied minors and gang activity on Long Island

According to Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Chief of Staff Michael Sharkey, with amped up enforcement efforts, gang members are now trying to become less identifiable.

"A lot of gangs are trying to blend in," Sharkey said. "They used to have noticeable tattoos, but that's now seen as counterproductive to their carrying on their gang business."

In an interview with Patch, Sgt. Steve Lundquist, an investigator for the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office gang intelligence unit, said specifics of the Central Islip murder investigation could not be discussed due to the ongoing case.

But he said the murders "have put a spotlight" on gang activity on Long Island. "And rightfully so. Once it's young kids, getting killed, young girls getting killed, it really gets people’s attention."

Discussing MS-13's presence in Brentwood and Central Islip, Lundquist said the demographics of the area have changed, with communities "inundated" with individuals of Central American descent. "Not to say they're bad people, but when a new group does come in, sometimes they are the minority in that area, and gangs form for protection. After awhile, when the area changes, their population increases and they become the dominant group in that area."

MS-13, he agreed, became a presence on Long Island in the late 90s, "but not with the numbers we have now."

Today, Lundquist said, families have grown and brought new family members to the area. "A lot of people from El Salvador have heard about Brentwood, so they flock there," he said.

Unaccompanied minors in the area have been linked to gang activity, Lundquist said.

"Because they are unaccompanied, they are looking for a place to live, looking for food, looking for people that will take care of them," he said. "The gang is very attractive, to help them out, give them a place to live, feed them. That's one of the ways to recruit them, to become members of a gang — they have no place else to turn sometimes."

Many unaccompanied minors, he said, come from areas of El Salvador where MS-13 "runs a lot of the country." Some are already MS-13 members when they arrive in the United States, or have grown up with MS-13 family members. "They don't know anything different," he said.

Recruitment, Lundquist said, is happening in schools, streets, anyplace where people openly congregate, with most kids initiated between 12 and 15-years-old. "If they're going to recruit them, they get them when they're young and impressionable and don't know better," he said.

Some kids who resist recruitment could be killed, Lundquist said, because MS-13 gangs are afraid those potential recruits will be scooped up by the rival 18th Street gang.

MS-13 violence, he agreed, is marked by deadly machete use and for violent robberies and home invasions, with less of an emphasis on drug dealing, which is seen more with Latin Kings, Bloods and Crips.

Rep. Peter King, R-Seaford, agreed that a federal program that allows unaccompanied minors to cross the border is a critical issue; he said he's had extensive conversations with Sini — and of the MS-13 arrests made, more than 50 to 70 percent were unaccompanied minors, King said. There are more than 4,000 unaccompanied minors in Suffolk County, King told Patch.

Unaccompanied minors who come to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, are placed with families "that have been threatened by MS-13 or paid by MS-13," King said. It's believed, King said, "that MS-13 is gaming or using the system" to get young people placed with Suffolk County families and subsequently, bolster MS-13 ranks.

King said there is definite pressure for kids to join gangs, with the threat of violence for those who won't join.
"Police have told me that kids who don't join get beat up pretty badly, there's definite pressure — a definite risk of being killed," he said.

King said he's worked with Sessions, HHS, Sini, and Homeland Security, and said a multi-pronged approach is essential to tackle a lethal problem that's "decimating communities."

Patch photo courtesy of Suffolk County Sheriff's Office.