WASHINGTON — Two dozen alleged MS-13 members and associates were indicted by a federal grand jury this week, prosecutors said.
Twenty-four defendants with suspected gang ties face a number of charges: 21 are charged with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, two are charged with conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and one is charged with money laundering conspiracy.
The youngest defendant is 19 years old and the oldest is 36. See a full list of the defendants here.
The alleged MS-13 members and associates are said to have engaged in “racketeering activity” from 2015 through 2017, which includes murder, attempted murder, conspiracies to commit murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion and more, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that the defendants murdered five people in Montgomery, Frederick and Anne Arundel counties, and dismembered three of their victims, prosecutors said. The defendants are also accused of conspiring to murder eight people, using a machete to assault and maim one of the people, and shooting someone in the head.
MS-13 members are said to operate throughout Maryland in Frederick, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, prosecutors said.
All of the defendants, except for one, are allegedly members and associates of MS-13’s Fulton Locotes Salvatrucha “clique,” prosecutors said. The one defendant who isn’t is thought to be linked to the Parkview Locos Salvatrucha clique.
“Working with our state and local partners, and using the tools of our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, we are determined to dismantle this organization to make our communities in Maryland safer,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur said in a news release.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced the indictment Friday, although it was returned Wednesday and unsealed Thursday.
The defendants began appearances in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Thursday.
