NY-Gangs of the Spa City; Illegals tied to violent MS13

Gangs of the Spa City; Illegals arrested,tied to violent MS13
Published: Friday, August 7, 2009




By EMILY DONOHUE

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local law enforcement believe Saratoga Springs remains a safe city, even after the arrest of three illegal aliens from El Salvador — two of whom are said to have ties to a notorious, trans-national gang.

Three men from El Salvador were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers earlier this week outside of the Big Apple Restaurant on Route 9, where two of the men worked.

ICE spokesperson Harold Ort said Thursday that two of the men have ties to the Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13. Local authorities also believe they have connections to the man charged with kidnapping a local woman July 23.

The two men with gang ties were identified by an Albany County Jail official as Salvador "Tony" Alas Palacios and Manuel Alas Duran. Ort said they are associated with MS13, which means they have associated "with known gang members."

They were brought to Albany County Jail Tuesday and are being held without bail. An official at the jail said the charges against both men are immigration related.

Despite the recent arrests, city police chief Edward Moore and District Attorney James A. Murphy III both said they believe Saratoga Springs remains safe.

Indications of gang activity are a serious matter, however, Murphy said.

"As the D.A., when anyone who is arrested is a member of a gang … it is brought to my attention and is treated very seriously," Murphy said.

Murphy encouraged community members to look for unusual graffiti, which could be gang-affiliated. He said people should photograph graffiti and submit the pictures to police before painting over the markings.

He added that the restaurant owners did nothing wrong in hiring these men. "We can’t blame the restaurants," he said.

The three men employed in Saratoga Springs presented very realistic-looking fake social security cards, green cards and other identification to their employers, he said.

Restaurants are susceptible to hiring illegal immigrants, Murphy said, because they gravitate toward unskilled positions like dishwashing or food preparation. "I think we all need to be very careful if we hire anyone," he said. He urged employers to call immigration officials if they are suspicious about an employee’s immigration status.

Big Apple restaurant owner Guy Benacquista said his two employees are cousins. They have worked as cooks at the restaurant since he bought it nearly two years ago; he hired them on the recommendation of the former owner who told him they were "good, reliable, hard-working." The men lived in an apartment above the restaurant.

Benacquista was shocked by the allegations. "I can hardly believe they were part of a gang," he said. "I never heard them talk bad about anybody."

He believes they had been in the country for seven or eight years and said he sympathized with their struggles as an immigrant himself. He came to America from Italy in 1955 and became a citizen in 1960. "I know what I went through when I came from Italy," he said. "I was like their older brother, their father I guess."

A third man, the cousins’ friend who Benacquista said was staying with them after losing his own apartment, was also detained. He was released on $10,000 bail.

Benacquista said Victor Vladimir Hernandez-Perez, the man arrested in connection with the July 23 kidnapping, was a friend of the cousins and visited the restaurant occasionally. "I know the guy knew these fellows well. He was here a few times," he said.



http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009 ... 460714.txt