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An indictment was unsealed in federal court in Central Islip charging 11 members of the street gang with multiple crimes that include predicate racketeering acts involving murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, witness tampering and witness retaliation, and related narcotics and firearms offenses.
Four were also charged for their roles in the April 11, 2021 murder of Nazareth Claure in Far Rockaway, whose body was recovered from the trunk of a car during the investigation into her death.
“As alleged, the savagery and brutality of the crimes committed by some of the individuals named in the indictment is beyond comprehension and involves the murder of a young woman, who was wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in the trunk of a car like an object instead of a young mother and human being,” Homeland Security Investigations acting Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel said.
Those charged:
- Billy “Berdugo” Ayala-Pineda, age 31, of Long Island;
- Onan “Demente” Garcia Lopez, age 20, of Long Island;
- Jose “David” Sarmiento-Valeriano, age 22, of Long Island;
- Anander “Cara Papa” or “El Papa” Henriquez-Avila, age 29, of Queens;
- Allan “Serio” Lopez-Villeda, age 23, of Queens;
- David Alberto Orantes-Gonzalez - also known as “Carlos Rodriguez Gonzalez” and “Casper,” age 24, of Queens;
- Carlos “Chino” Ramirez-Portillo, age 21, of Queens;
- William “Maniac” Estiven Sanchez-Perez, age 21, of Queens;
- Carlos “Solitario” Torres-Alfaro, age 20, of Queens;
- Henry “Trece” Vasquez-Padilla, age 26, of Queens;
- Rigel “E” Yohairo Velasquez-Mancia, age 21, of Queens.
The indictment alleges that Ayala-Pineda, who was arrested on Dec. 15, 2021, was the highest-ranking member (or First Word) of the Surenos Locos Salvatruchas (SLS) clique operating in Queens and Long Island, and a leader of the LA Program operating in the United States.
US Attorney Breon Peace said that Ayala-Pineda directed the SLS clique’s drug trafficking activity, acts of violence committed against rival gang members, and against members and associates of the gang who Ayala-Pineda deemed to have been disloyal to the gang, and the SLS clique’s acquisition of firearms.
The other 10 suspects all were members and associates of the MS-13 and involved in trafficking narcotics and committing acts of violence in furtherance of the gang’s objectives in conjunction with the SLS clique, prosecutors said.
It is further alleged that Henriquez-Avila, Lopez-Villeda, Sarmiento-Valeriano, and Velasquez-Mancia were involved in the murder of Claure in April 2021.
The four were pulled over for a traffic stop in Queens by the NYPD, prosecutors said, and her body was found in the trunk wrapped in trash bags.
The indictment also alleges that the 11 suspects conspired to distribute cocaine, oxycodone, and marijuana, as well as their use and possession of firearms in furtherance of their narcotics trafficking.
“The significant federal charges in the superseding indictment, including the brutal murder of a mother whose body was wrapped in trash bags, underscores the cruel depravity and senseless violence of the MS-13 gang,” Peace said.
“With this indictment and additional arrests, this Office has taken another step in seeking justice for the murder victim and her family, and we will not rest until the threat of the MS-13 gang is eliminated for good from our communities.”
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