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In Brooklyn federal court, 10 members and associates of the Indios Locos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a transnational criminal organization, were charged with murder in-aid-of racketeering, attempted murder, murder conspiracy, related firearms offenses, and marijuana distribution conspiracy.
It is alleged that the MS-13 gang members murdered Andy Peralta, Victor Alvarenga, and Abel Mosso in Queens in 2018 and 2019.
Those charged:
- Marlon Saracay-Lopez, 33, of Compton, California;
- Juan Amaya-Ramirez, 22, of Fresh Meadows;
- Ramiro Gutierrez, 27, of Flushing;
- Victor Lopez, 21, of Flushing;
- Tito Martinez-Alvarenga, 20, of Flushing;
- Jairo Martinez-Garcia, 21, of Flushing;
- Emerson Martinez-Lara, 21, of College Point;
- Douglas Melgar-Suriano, 24, of Flushing;
- Victor Ramirez, 20, of Elmhurst;
- Ismael Santos-Novoa, 31, of Flushing.
It is alleged that Amaya-Ramirez killed Peralta, 17, on April 23, 2018, after luring him to Kissena Park in Flushing. Peralta had a tattoo of a crown on his chest which Amaya-Ramirez and the others mistakenly believed to be a symbol of the rival Latin Kings gang, U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said.
Peralta was fatally beaten, stabbed, and strangled, while his tattoo was slashed. Peralta’s assailants used Amaya-Ramirez’s iPhone to photograph the corpse, while they displayed MS-13 gang signs with their hands. The photograph was found in Amaya-Ramirez’s iCloud account during a court-authorized search of the account.
It is further alleged that Melgar-Suriano and Martinez-Garcia killed Alvarenga on Nov. 4, 2018, by shooting him multiple times in his head and body. Donoghue said that as Alvarenga writhed on the pavement, Martinez-Garcia also shot him.
Donoghue said that the indictment also charges Martinez-Alvarenga and Lopez with killing Mosso on a subway platform in Queens.
It is alleged that on Feb. 3 last year, the two followed Mosso, who they believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang onto the 7-train in Flushing. Mosso was assaulted in a subway car, dragged out onto the platform at the 90th Street station in Jackson Heights, at which point they presented a gun.
Donoghue said that “Mosso wrestled (the gun) away, and Gutierrez shouted in Spanish, ‘Nobody get involved, we’re MS-13, we’re going to kill him.’”
Gutierrez then allegedly grabbed the gun from Mosso and shot him multiple times, killing him. Police investigators later recovered a video posted on Facebook depicting the murder.
“MS-13 members do all they can to propagate a violent, deadly image as a gang,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said. “Their calculation that shouting the gang's name out in front of people on a subway platform will prevent anyone from interfering with a man being brutally beaten and murdered boggles the mind.”
If convicted of murder, the MS-13 gang members face life in prison.
“The murders and crimes of violence allegedly committed by these defendants are trademark MS-13 offenses – cold-blooded, senseless and brutally violent – and pose a grave danger to the residents of our communities,” Donoghue said. “The defendants will now face prosecution for the charged crimes. No matter what obstacles may arise, this Office will not rest until our mission to eradicate the MS-13 threat is accomplished.”
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