US targets leaders of violent street gang

US targets leaders of violent street gang

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL The Associated Press
Last modified: 2013-06-05T17:36:51Z
Published: Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2013 - 8:06 am
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2013 - 10:36 am

http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/.../PC/Basic/AT/A Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON -- The government on Wednesday designated six leaders of the violent street gang MS-13 as international criminals, stepping up a crackdown on the sprawling U.S. and Central American gang's finances.
The Treasury Department in October designated MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, as an international criminal organization. The Obama administration said that makes the gang subject to penalties by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and gives the U.S. an opportunity to hinder MS-13's ability to funnel money to its leaders in El Salvador or launder criminal proceeds through otherwise legitimate businesses.
Adding the names of six of the gang's purported leaders allows the U.S. to target their bank accounts individually.
The men added to the transnational criminal organization designation are: Moris Alexander Bercian Manchon, 28; Jose Misael Cisneros Rodriguez, 37; Marvin Geovanny Monterrosa-Larios, 39; Moises Humberto Rivera-Luna, 44; Saul Antonio Turcios Angel, 35; and Borromeo Enrique Henriquez Solorzano, 34.
All are from El Salvador. Turcios, Rivera-Luna and Monterrosa-Larios have been indicted in the United States on criminal charges. Rivera-Luna and Monterrosa-Larios are jailed in El Salvador and Turcios' whereabouts are unknown. Federal court records do not list attorneys of any of the three men.
Henriquez is believed to be the head of the gang's operations in El Salvador, despite being jailed in the Central American country.
The six men could not immediately be located by The Associated Press for comment.
Adam Szubin, who is the head of OFAC, said federal authorities are moving to freeze any assets the men may have in the United States, whether it be bank accounts or real property. While at least four of the six gang leaders are believed to be in prison in El Salvador, authorities believe they are still actively directing MS-13 operations and profiting from crimes including human and drug smuggling, racketeering, extortion and kidnapping.
Waldemar Rodriguez, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deputy assistant director for transnational crime and public safety, said financial penalties are part of a broader effort to halt the gang's activities in the U.S. Since 2006, about 4,200 MS-13 members have been arrested "yet international criminal activities continue."
"MS-13 is a rising public threat," Rodriguez said. "We must take them on where ever they are."
The gang was founded more than two decades ago by immigrants flee El Salvador's civil war. Taking lessons from the brutal conflict to the streets of Los Angeles, its founders built a reputation as one of the most ruthless and sophisticated street gangs, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jason Shatarsky.
MS-13 has a strong presence in Southern California, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia, all areas with substantial Salvadoran populations, and as many 10,000 members in 46 states. The gang is also allied with several of Mexico's warring drug cartels.
Shatarsky has said MS-13 members target residents and business owners for extortion, among other crimes. The gang is active throughout Central America and in parts of Mexico, too. Authorities in Europe have reported evidence of MS-13 expanding operations there.
Numerous killings in the U.S. have been attributed to the gang, including the 2003 slaying a pregnant Virginia teenager who had become an informant. Brenda Paz, 17, was stabbed to death and her body was left along the banks of the Shenandoah River.
Gang members have been linked to the 2007 execution style shooting deaths of three friends in a schoolyard in Newark, N.J. One victim was slashed with a machete before being shot. Six people have been charged in the case.

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/05/5473239/us-targets-leaders-of-violent.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/05/547...#storylink=cpy

Treasury Department, HSI sanction significant members of MS-13 gang

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent this bulletin at 06/05/2013 01:41 PM EDT

https://public.govdelivery.com/syste...ws_Release.jpg

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury with the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), designated six members of the notorious El Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) Wednesday, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581, which targets transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and their supporters. E.O. 13581 is a key part of the National Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
These actions are part of the Treasury Department's ongoing efforts to target the leadership of global criminal organizations, including MS-13, which threaten innocent people and legitimate business around the world, including in the United States. In October 2012, MS-13 became the first transnational criminal street gang to be designated by Treasury as a TCO. MS-13 has been involved in serious criminal activity, in the United States and around the world, including human smuggling, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, assassinations, racketeering, blackmail, extortion and immigration offenses.
"Today's designation of six MS-13 leaders is the result of Homeland Security Investigation's National Gang Unit and OFAC's joint partnership to further strike at the financial heart of one of the most dangerous transnational criminal gangs in the world today," said ICE Director John Morton. "This powerful tool will provide HSI and its local, state, federal and international law enforcement partners to further disrupt MS-13 financial networks and violent operations. History has proven that we can successfully take down organized crime groups when we combine sophisticated investigative techniques with tough street level enforcement, cutting off cash flows, contraband and collaborators to ensure they no longer find safe haven in our communities."
"MS-13 is an extremely violent and dangerous gang responsible for a multitude of crimes that directly threaten the welfare and security of U.S. citizens, as well as peoples throughout Central America," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "We will continue to target the leadership and financial networks supporting MS-13, and work with our law enforcement partners from across the United States and around the world to disrupt their criminal activities."
The designations of six individuals working for or on behalf of MS-13 are designed to further disrupt the activities of MS-13 and to protect the U.S. and international financial systems from abuse. As active members and leaders, these individuals are heavily involved in directing and participating in illicit activity, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, and murder. Borromeo Enrique Henriquez Solorzano, 34, incarcerated in El Salvador, is widely regarded as the Central American leader of the group and frequently acts as the spokesperson for the MS-13 gang in El Salvador. Several other MS-13 leaders — including Marvin Geovanny Monterrosa Larios, 39; Moises Humberto Rivera Luna, 44; and Saul Antonio Turcios Angel, 35 — have been indicted in the United States for racketeering, murder and other violent crimes. Moris Alexander Bercian Manchon, 28, has been involved in narcotics trafficking operations on behalf of the organization. Jose Misael Cisneros Rodriguez, 36, is both an MS-13 crime boss and a narcotics trafficker.
MS-13 consists of more than 30,000 members and operates in at least five countries, including the United States. It is one of the most dangerous criminal gangs in the world today. MS-13 promotes its illicit interests through murder, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion and assassination, including carrying out numerous murders within the United States.
U.S. persons and businesses are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the individuals designated today, and any assets of those designees subject to U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.
Identifiers:
Name: Moris Alexander Bercian Manchon, aka El Barney
Date of Birth: Oct. 30, 1984
Place of Birth: San Salvador, El Salvador
Nationality: Salvadoran
Name: Jose Misael Cisneros Rodriguez, aka Jose Misal Cisneros, aka Medio Millon, aka Half Million
Date of Birth: Oct. 2, 1976
Place of Birth: Agua Caliente, Chalatenango, El Salvador
Nationality: Salvadoran
Name: Marvin Geovanny Monterrosa-Larios, aka Marvin Jeovanny Monterrosa-Larios, aka Enano
Date of Birth: May 21, 1974
Place of Birth: San Miguel, San Miguel, El Salvador
Nationality: Salvadoran
Name: Moises Humberto Rivera-Luna, aka Santos, aka Viejo Santos
Date of Birth: May 23, 1969
Place of Birth: San Salvador, El Salvador
Nationality: Salvadoran
Name: Saul Antonio Turcios Angel, aka El Trece, aka Shayboys
Date of Birth: May 17, 1978
Place of Birth: Zaragoza, La Libertad, El Salvador
Nationality: Salvadoran
Name: Borromeo Enrique Henriquez Solorzano, aka Racson Mario Rivera Arias, aka El Diablo Pequeno, aka El Diablo, aka El Diablito, aka El Diablito De Hollywood
Date of Birth: July 27, 1978
Place of Birth: San Salvador, El Salvador
Nationality: Salvadoran
The HSI National Gang Unit is the lead law enforcement agency under this MS-13 enforcement effort dubbed "Operation Barbed Wire." The National Gang Unit removes gang members from our neighborhoods and, when appropriate, from the United States. In 2005, HSI initiated Operation Community Shield, an international law enforcement initiative to enhance U.S. public safety. Operation Community Shield partners with existing federal, state and local anti-gang efforts to identify violent street gangs and develop intelligence on gang members and associates, gang criminal activities and international movements; to arrest, prosecute, imprison and/or deport transnational gang members; and to suppress violence and prosecute criminal enterprises. The National Gang Unit's goal is to deter, disrupt and dismantle gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets derived from criminal activities. Since 2006, HSI has arrested 4,249 MS-13 gang members and, partnering with the U.S. Department of Justice, has successfully brought to indictment numerous MS-13 racketeering investigations in Washington, Virginia, New York, San Francisco, Houston and Atlanta.

# ICE #

http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSICE/bulletins/7e103f