Top MS-13 leader to stand trial in New York on terrorism charges
Also: High-Ranking MS-13 Fugitive Arrested on Terrorism Charges (U.S. Department of Justice)
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Source: Reuters
Top MS-13 leader to stand trial in New York on terrorism charges
Reuters
November 15, 2023 7:03 PM EST Updated 4 hours ago
SAN SALVADOR, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A top leader of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang will stand trial in New York on terrorism charges, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.
El Salvador citizen Elmer Canales, known as "Crook de Hollywood," was arrested by Mexican authorities last week and sent to Texas, where a federal court on Wednesday ordered him to face trial in New York.
Canales, along with 13 other MS-13 members, was indicted in 2020 on terrorism charges relating to his alleged involvement in organized crime in the U.S., Mexico and El Salvador over the past two decades.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/top-ms-13-leader-stand-trial-new-york-terrorism-charges-2023-11-16/
Alternate no-paywall link: https://news.yahoo.com/top-ms-13-leader-stand-010303461.html
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice
High-Ranking MS-13 Fugitive Arrested on Terrorism Charges
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Defendant Was Influential Member of the Ranfla Nacional, MS-13’s Board of Directors that Directed Transnational Criminal Operations
At the conclusion of a removal hearing, a federal court in Houston, Texas ordered Elmer Canales-Rivera, aka Crook de Hollywood, a high-ranking leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, aka MS-13, to be transferred in custody to the Eastern District of New York where he and 13 other high-ranking MS-13 leaders were indicted in December 2020 on terrorism offenses relating to their direction of the transnational criminal organization’s criminal activities in the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, and elsewhere over the past two decades.
On Nov. 9, Canales-Rivera was arrested by members of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) when he arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Specifically, Canales-Rivera has been charged with conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism and narco-terrorism conspiracy.
“We allege that Elmer Canales-Rivera, a founding member of MS-13’s ‘Twelve Apostles of the Devil,’ bears responsibility for the gang’s efforts over decades to terrorize communities, target law enforcement, and sow violence here in the United States and abroad,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The arrest of this high-ranking, long-time leader of MS-13 should serve as a warning to MS-13’s other leaders that the Justice Department will hold you accountable for your crimes.”
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When the indictment was unsealed in January 2021, Canales-Rivera was in custody in El Salvador serving a prison sentence, and the United States lodged an INTERPOL Red Notice and submitted an extradition request for Canales-Rivera to the GOES. However, in or about November 2021, Canales-Rivera was released from custody by the GOES and then unlawfully entered Guatemala. Canales-Rivera remained a fugitive until Nov. 7, when he was apprehended by Mexican authorities.
Further, in addition to requesting Canales-Rivera’s extradition, in 2021 and 2022, the United States requested the extradition of 11 of his co-defendants, including Borromeo Enrique Henriquez, also known as “Diablito de Hollywood,” who is widely recognized as the most powerful member of the Ranfla Nacional. To date, the GOES has not extradited any of those defendants.
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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/high-ranking-ms-13-fugitive-arrested-terrorism-charges