Crime

19 MS-13 gang members indicted in ‘medieval-style’ California slayings were in country illegally, officials say

Nearly all of the members and associates of an MS-13 gang charged in the “medieval-style” slayings of seven people in California were in the country illegally, officials said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles charged 22 people linked to a subset of the vicious gang that’s known as the Fulton clique, members of which are suspected in nearly 200 crimes in several states over 9 years, according to a federal indictment released Tuesday. “We have now taken off the streets nearly two dozen people associated with the most violent arm of MS-13 in Los Angeles,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said. Of the 22 defendants, 19 had entered the country illegally in the past three or four years, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Federal prosecutors allege the suspects operated in the San Fernando Valley, an area that recently absorbed an influx of young immigrants from Central America. “Under the influence of these young gangsters, younger associates who wanted to become members of MS-13 were ‘required to kill an MS-13 rival or someone perceived to be adverse to MS-13 to be initiated into MS-13,’ according to the indictment,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. “In Los Angeles, a clique added new members through an initiation ritual known as ‘jumping in,’ during which several existing MS-13 members beat up a prospective MS-13 member for 13 seconds while the shot caller counted aloud for 13 seconds,” the indictment read. “Beginning in 2017 in Los Angeles, MS-13 members who identified with ‘503’ had been required” to murder a rival or other enemy of the group. Authorities said “503” represents the sub-group of MS-13 and is the telephone country code for El Salvador. The brutality involved in some of the alleged killings was also disclosed in graphic detail by authorities. Four of the killings took place in Angeles National Forest. The slayings were carried out using machetes, bats and knives, according to the indictment. In one case a member of a rival gang who had been believed to have defaced MS-13 graffiti was targeted and had his heart cut out of his chest, authorities said. On March 6, 2017, the victim, identified as “J.S.,” was driven to Angeles National Forest, where six MS-13 gang members attacked him with a machete, killing him, the indictment claimed. “The victim was dismembered and his body parts were thrown into a canyon after one of the defendants allegedly cut the heart out of the victim’s body,” a news release from Hanna’s office said. “Taking violent offenders off the street should send a message to MS-13 members and their associates that medieval-style violence and senseless murder will not be tolerated in Los Angeles,” said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. Hanna released photos showing MS-13 members displaying a machete, gang signs and guns in various poses. Sixteen of the 22 people indicted are charged in connection with six slayings, which officials said were so “heinous, cruel or depraved” that the defendants are eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek capital punishment, however. All 22 of the alleged MS-13 members and associates are in custody. Eighteen had been apprehended during the last year on a range of federal and state charges, authorities said. Three were arrested in recent days in the Los Angeles area by a task force that included FBI agents, Los Angeles police officers and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. Another alleged MS-13 affiliate was arrested over the weekend in Oklahoma. Authorities also filed two more cases under seal against juvenile defendants in federal court. “The collaborative law enforcement effort solved several murder cases and dealt a severe blow to members of the gang who engaged in acts of brutality not seen in the region for over 20 years,” Hanna said.

So, to recap..  19 of these 22 animals were here illegally; illegal aliens.  Keep that in mind the next time you hear some bleeding heart Dem say how cruel it is for us to be securing the border and deporting criminal aliens.

Five Charged in Texas Human Trafficking, Sex Slavery Scheme

Houston police arrested five people in connection to an alleged human trafficking and sex slavery operation. Police rescued 18 victims who officials say were held for ransom and forced to work or perform sexual acts. At least one of the suspects is a twice-deported criminal alien. On June 5, Houston Police Department investigators received information about a migrant being held in a Houston stash house, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters on June 28. The information led to the arrest of five individuals and the rescue of 18 — including two women and 16 men. Acevedo told reporters that investigators traveled to an area where they believed the trafficking victims were being held. During a traffic stop, officers rescued a juvenile victim and detained several suspects, the chief said. The traffic stop spurred a further joint investigation with the Houston Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents. The investigation led law enforcement officials to a location in northwest Houston, Acevedo explained, where an undercover money exchange led to the arrest of another suspect and the recovery of an additional kidnap victim. This arrest led to the uncovering of a stash house “where other victims were being held against their will,” the Houston police chief stated. “We were able to rescue 16 additional victims from deplorable conditions.” Acevedo said that women were being held captive and were sexually assaulted for 25 days. The chief told reporters the 16 men were being held with “little to no clothing” and were forced to work and perform sexual acts. The investigation led to the arrest of five subjects. Their charges include engaging in organized crime, sexual assault, and aggravated kidnapping, he stated. In total, police arrested five suspects.

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Cash or cigarettes?: Nine face vote-fraud charges, bribing homeless for signatures

Authorities in Los Angeles have indicted nine people on felony voter-fraud charges, accusing the defendants of using homeless people to forge signatures on voter-registration and petition forms. According to NBC News, the indictment involves 14 felony counts related to electioneering in the 2016 and 2018 political cycles, though none of the nine defendants has been charged on all of them. The charges in the indictment include, according to NBC, “circulating an initiative with forged or fictitious names, signing fictitious names, registering fictitious persons, and making payment for signatures.” The suspects are accused of bribing homeless people on Los Angeles‘ Skid Row with cash or cigarettes in exchange for the signatures, transactions that were observed by beat police and then by undercover officers. Seven suspects pleaded not guilty Friday in Los Angeles; the other two persons charges have not appeared in court yet, NBC reported. The charges could result in up to four years imprisonment.

Authorities seize thousands of weapons and explosives in international weapons trafficking bust

Authorities in Florida and Argentina arrested more than two dozen suspects and seized 5,300 firearms and explosives in a crackdown on an elaborate global weapons trafficking ring, officials said Friday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated “Operation Patagonia Express” after investigators discovered the shipping of weapons and weapon parts from South Florida to Brazil and Argentina. Once in South America, the components were assembled and sold to criminal groups, authorities said. The seizure included the equivalent of 52 AR-15 rifles, 30,000 rounds of caliber ammunition for various weapons, 189 long arms, 156 handguns, five vehicles, a hand grenade, a motor round and $110,000 in cash. Twenty-five people were arrested. “South Florida does seem to be a hub and now we have the largest Argentine firearms seizure in their history so South Florida does seem to be a hub for weapons trafficking into South America,” Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of ICE’S Homeland Security Investigation in Miami, said in a news conference. Authorities in Argentina said the weapons seizure is the largest in the country’s history. Among those taken into custody were former Broward County residents John James Peterson, 60, and Brunella Zuppone, 67, for allegedly exporting AR-15 components without a required license from the State Department, officials said in a news release. Both are charged with conspiracy to violate and attempted violations of the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

MS-13 Illegal Aliens Charged with Murdering Teen Girl After Being Released by Sanctuary City

Two illegal alien members of the violent MS-13 gang have been charged with the murder of a 14-year-old girl in Maryland after previously being released from custody by a sanctuary city. Last week, illegal alien MS-13 gang members Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce, 16-years-old, and Joel Ernesto Escobar, 17-years-old, were charged with first-degree murder — along with 14-year-old Cynthia Hernandez-Nucamendi — in the death of 14-year-old Ariana Funes-Diaz in Prince George’s County, Maryland. According to police, the two illegal alien MS-13 gang members and Hernandez-Nucamendi met the 14-year-old victim at an apartment complex before taking her into a wooded area nearby. In the wooded area, police say the three beat the girl with a baseball bat and stabbed her to death with a machete. Now, the pair of illegal alien MS-13 gang members and Hernandez-Nucamendi have been charged with murdering Funes-Diaz. Last year, Fuentes-Ponce and Escobar were released from custody by Prince George’s County officials after being charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, participation in gang activity, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted robbery. At the time, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had requested that the two illegal alien gang members not be released back into the community and instead be turned over to their custody for deportation. Prince George’s County, a sanctuary city, released the illegal aliens anyway, and they were never able to be arrested or deported by ICE. “These individuals had demonstrated violent criminal behavior before, and because they were released in spite of the lawful detainer, they were afforded an opportunity to take a life,” an ICE official said in a statement. Fuentes first arrived in the U.S. at the Texas-Mexico border in December 2015 as part of a family unit. He and the other family members were paroled into the U.S. Though a judge requested that the illegal alien be deported in March 2017, he never arrived for his court hearing and was subsequently never deported. Likewise, Escobar entered the Texas-Mexico border as an unaccompanied juvenile in August 2016. Instead of being deported, he was released to family members living in Washington, D.C. where he has lived since illegally entering the country.

But, I’m confused…  The media keeps telling me that all of these “unaccompanied minors” are just harmless, innocent, refugees we need to care for and let into our society without being screened.  THIS is a textbook example of why we need to BUILD THE WALL NOW!!!…and why we need to stop this sanctuary city nonsense.  The only ones who are safe in so-called “sanctuary cities” are criminals who know they can get away with murder…literally.

Chicago police blast Jussie Smollett ‘phony attack’: ‘Bogus police reports cause real harm’

Chicago cops laid out their case against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett Thursday morning, accusing the TV star of orchestrating an elaborate hoax involving two “bogus” hate crimes — one involving an alleged attack, and one involving a threatening letter — all in order to get a pay raise. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Smollett orchestrated a “phony attack” in order to take “advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.” Johnson said at a news conference Thursday that Smollett, 36, also sent a racist and homophobic threatening letter to himself at the Fox studio lot before the attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary. “I’m left hanging my head and asking why,” a visibly upset Johnson told reporters. “Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol…how can an individual who has been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in this city by making this false claim?” He added, “Bogus police reports cause real harm.” Following three weeks of mounting suspicions, Smollett, who is accused of filing a false police report, was charged Wednesday with felony disorderly conduct. He turned himself in at central booking early Thursday. If convicted, he is facing up to three years in prison. Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at around 2 a.m on Jan. 29. The actor, who is black and gay, said the masked men beat him, made derogatory comments and yelled “This is MAGA country” — an apparent reference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” — before fleeing. But that isn’t how police say it all went down. Johnson said police found the “check that [Smollett] used to pay [two brothers]” to fake the beating, adding he paid them $3,500 “for the two of them in total, and then $500 upon return.” He said the attack “was staged, the brothers had on gloves during the (air quotes) ‘staged attack’ where they punched him a little, but as far as we can tell, the scratching and bruising that you saw on [Smollett’s] face was most likely self-inflicted.” Johnson was also incensed at the spotlight the incident put on his town for the past three weeks. “This is shameful because it painted this city that we all love and work hard in, in a negative connotation,” he said. “To insinuate and stage a hate crime of that nature when he knew that as a celebrity he’d get a lot of attention… It’s despicable. It makes you wonder what’s going through someone’s mind.” “As a black man, who spent his entire life living the city of Chicago, I know the racial divide that exists here. I know how hard it’s been for our city and our nation to come together,” he said. Johnson added that “absolute justice would be an apology to this city that he smeared….admitting what he did and then be man enough to offer what he should offer up in terms of all the resources that were put into this.”

Agreed..  Jussie Smollet is total garbage.  IF found guilty (as it would appear he will be, but we’ll let the legal process out), he should pay the max fine (which would be nothing to him), and actually do the years in prison.  In addition, FOX should fire him from the Empire series, and this loser should repay the City of Chicago for the police resources that we were used investigating this phony hate crime.   Finally he needs to make a public apology on camera to the good people of Chicago for staging this outrageous stunt which could have turned into a riot.  Remember Rodney King in LA?   Or what happened in Ferguson?  That was all based on a lie.  Remember, “Hands up, don’t shoot?”  That NEVER happened.  But, even after it was proven that never happened, the agenda-driven, dominantly liberal mainstream media continued to promote it to fit their narrative.  Yeah..  That all could have happened in Chicago..  Stunts like this are dangerous and put all of us at risk.  The Chicago prosecutors need to make an example of this disgusting waste of oxygen.  People need to see that this sorta thing comes with consequences that even the liberal elite in HollyWEIRD have to pay.

Largest Fentanyl Seizure in U.S. History Occurs at Arizona Border Checkpoint

U.S. Border Customs and Border Patrol agents seized 254 pounds of fentanyl and 395 pounds of methamphetamine during a regular inspection of an 18-wheeler at the commercial border crossing in Nogales, Arizona Saturday. The seizure of fentanyl was the largest ever recorded at a U.S. port of entry. U.S. border agents assigned to the Mariposa Port of Entry made contact with a 26-year-old Mexican truck driver at approximately 8:50 am. Agents referred the male to a secondary inspection where the truck was scanned with a non-intrusive detection system. Agents detected irregularities within the cabin, specifically the rear floorboard, according to a statement by Michael Humphries, the area port director for the Nogales Port of Entry. A K-9 detection dog was brought in for further inspection and alerted to an odor. Agents discovered concealed cargo in an after-market compartment underneath a load of cucumbers. Authorities found 254 pounds of fentanyl and 395 pounds of methamphetamine, according to a Border Patrol press conference. The fentanyl was in 100 individual packages in powder form except for 10, consisting of pills. The methamphetamine was in 300 separate packages. The value of the fentanyl was estimated at $3.5 million with the methamphetamine valued at $1.2 million. “Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine and the size of a few grains of salt can kill a person very quickly,” according to Nogales Port Director Michael Humphries. He further stated, “This amount of fentanyl our CBP officers prevented from entering our country equates to an un-measurably dangerous amount of an opioid that could have harmed so many families.” The 26-year old driver was arrested and handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigators. The load of cucumbers was destroyed.