FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests and prosecutions of three MS-13 members that, she said, were residing in South Florida illegally.
Bondi was joined Friday by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, members of BSO’s Cold Case Homicide Unit and Gang Investigations Task Force, the FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies in Fort Lauderdale to announce the arrests.
“They’re not just a street gang, they’re a highly organized, terrorist organization,” said Bondi.
According to Bondi, the arrests of Jose Ezequiel Gamez-Maravilla, Hugo Adiel Bermudez-Martinez and Wilber Rosendo Navarro-Escobar were made in connection to four gang-related cold case homicides that occurred in Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2014 and 2015.
Investigators said three of the incidents occurred in the Oakland Park area.
These suspects were all indicted on March 6 and taken into custody shortly after. One of the men was found in Broward County, another in Lakeland and the third in Minnesota.
All three men now face first-degree murder charges and are the last of nine defendants to be taken into custody in connection to the murders. Their arrests are part of a larger operation called “Operation Shadow of the Beast.”
Bondi began the conference by addressing the victims’ families and their time of mourning.
“To our victims’ families, first, we met with them earlier; thank you for being here. And we’re so sorry, and as [Broward] Sheriff [Gregory] Tony said, your victim was not just sitting there in a box of papers. They are a victim, and that’s why they have spent a decade finding some of these people who have killed your loved ones,” said Bondi. “We’re very sorry for your loss, and I know you have to relive this, and thank you for being here today. So sorry you’re going through this.”
According to BSO, in 2015 they began to notice similarities in the cases before they eventually ran cold. However, in 2020 the sheriff’s office launched a cold case unit.
A year later, their investigation resulted in the forensic excavation and recovery of victim,Joel Canizales-Lara’s body from a makeshift grave in Oakland Park in May 2021.
“Here in Broward County, justice doesn’t have an expiration date,” said Broward’s Sheriff Gregory Tony.
Lara was reported missing in 2014 by his parents.
The evidence gathered in the investigation pointed to the MS-13 gang.
“They are living among us because they think they can get away with this, and they cannot. They are bringing drugs, they are bringing guns and especially violence to our country,” said Bondi.
The attorney general described the violent attack inflicted upon one of the victims in Oakland Park.
“The victim in this case was brutally, brutally murdered. He was stabbed approximately 100 times by multiple gang members before he was shot in the head,” said Bondi. “He suffered tremendously, and these indictments are a warning to all criminals: We don’t care how long ago you committed the crime. We don’t care where you go. We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
The announcement comes only one week after Bondi announced the arrest of a 24-year-old man believed to be one of the gang’s top three leaders in the US, in Virginia.
“America is safer today because one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13 is off the street,” Bondi said at the time. “This has been an ongoing directive of President Trump. His directive to me, when I became Attorney General of the United States, was very simple: ‘Keep America safe; make America safe again,’ and that’s what these men and women have been doing tirelessly, every single day since Donald Trump took office.”
During the first 50 days of Trump’s presidency, the Department of Homeland Security has reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested over 1,100 criminals and gang members, with around 39 of them suspected to be gang members.
The six MS-13 members who have been convicted so far are facing life in prison. As for the three men who were only recently arrested, officials said they are eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Officials said they are currently looking for a 10th possible co-conspirator.
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