Thirty-five suspected members of a Long Island, New York, gang have been arrested amid a string of brutal killings, including the discovery of a teenager’s skeletal remains.
Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, was believed to be a member of the MS-13 gang with links to El Salvador and Los Angeles, California, Suffolk County Assistant Police Commissioner Justin Meyers said on Friday.
The teen’s remains were found earlier this week in Brentwood, a hamlet of 60,000 about 64km east of Manhattan, where law enforcement officials have intensified their battle against gang violence.
In the past month, four teenagers from Brentwood High School were found dead.
The body of 15-year-old Nisa Mickens, who suffered head trauma and lacerations, was dumped on a road on Sept. 13, police said.
Her best friend, 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, was found beaten to death a day later behind a home.
In a wooded area 3.2km away, police made more grisly discoveries a week later: The remains of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta and 15-year-old Miguel Garcia-Moran.
Both had disappeared earlier this year.
“When the girls were murdered, the [Suffolk County] police commissioner made a commitment to the community to eradicate gang violence,” Meyers said. “We made strategic lists of gang members, with the goal to both quell the violence and to extract information about past crimes.”
In another killing authorities said is likely gang-related, the body of 34-year-old Dewann Stacks was found last week in Brentwood.
Meyers said that of the 35 suspects arrested in the past three weeks, five were violent gang leaders.
They are in custody facing federal charges under the US’ Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
“This is just the beginning; we’re not going to stop until we decimate the criminal element in Brentwood,” Meyers said.
MS-13 is short for Mara Salvatrucha — a Salvadoran-based street posse involved with extortion, prostitution and drug dealing. The gang emerged in the 1980s in Los Angeles, where immigrants from El Salvador settled to escape civil war in their country.
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