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Cops: Gang targeted immigrants
Saturday, November 19, 2005

By RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITER


Ten illegal aliens arrested during a series of raids in Bloomingdale and Butler on Thursday morning are suspected members of a Mexican gang known as Sureno 13, authorities said Friday.

Several teams of police, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, carried out predawn raids at four apartments - two on Kiel Street in downtown Butler and two on Main Street in Bloomingdale. They rounded up 10 men, ranging in age from 18 to 31, and took them to Hudson County Jail to await deportation hearings, officials said.

Tom Maniface, the deputy special agent in charge of the operation, said the Sureno 13 members preyed on other Mexican immigrants, often shaking down day laborers for protection money or robbing them outright.

"There was street crime and strong-arm robbery," Maniface said. He added that victims were often afraid to report the crimes because they feared it might affect their immigration status.

Maniface said immigration authorities probably would not press criminal charges against any of the 10 men and instead would move to deport them. Their deportation hearing would probably be held in about two months, Maniface said.

Being held in the Hudson County Jail are Bernardo Luna-Ibarra, 22; Martin Live-Badillo,25; Pablo Luna-Ibarra, 31; Angel Live-Romo, 21; Leonardo Ramirez-Juarez, 30; Lucio Sanchez-Onofre, 20; Guillermo Badillo-Quintanar, 22; Victor Zavala-Alvarado, 20; Rey Live-Badillo, 27; and Juan Live-Badillo, 18.

Mexican immigrants have flowed into Bloomingdale and Butler in recent years, attracted by the relatively cheap rents along Main Street, which links both towns. But with that immigrant surge has come concern among residents that gang activity is on the rise.

Three weeks ago a detective from the Passaic County Sheriff's Gang Intelligence Unit addressed residents at Bloomingdale Borough Hall and said it was likely that Mexican gangs were operating in town. Local police say they found graffiti featuring the Sureno 13 insignia at the homes that were raided.

A Mexican woman who lived at one of the Kiel Avenue addresses said she was awakened before dawn Thursday by loud banging on her apartment door. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said police arrested two of her roommates after looking at the tattoos on their arms.

Dubbed the "Mexican Mafia," Sureno 13 members often have a distinctive tattoo between the thumb and forefinger of their hands. There are three small dots on the left hand and one on the right hand. When the hands are joined together, the dots make the number 13.

The woman denied that her roommates were gang members. "Anyone can have tattoos," she said. "This is discrimination. They think there are too many Mexicans in town."

Sureno 13 took root in Southern California and has since spread nationwide. Its colors are blue and white, and members often wear a blue bandana or a long blue belt. Sureno 13 is considered the rival of another Mexican gang, MS-13, which stands for Mara Salvatrucha.