On Wednesday, a federal jury in Maryland convicted two El Salvadorian nationals for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise, commonly known as MS-13.
Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, aka Insolente, aka Trankilo, 25, and Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, aka Reaper, 39, were convicted of multiple racketeering-related offenses. Alverado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz were both convicted on racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
According to court documents, MS-13 is organized into a series of sub-units or “cliques” that operate in specific geographic locations, and each clique is typically controlled by a single leader, sometimes known as the “First Word.” Alvarado-Requeno and Corea Diaz were both leaders of the Sailors clique. Corea Diaz held the title of Primera Palabra, or “First Word,” for the entire east coast. Alvarado-Requeno was the First Word of the Sailors for the Sailors in Maryland.
According to evidence presented at the four-week trial, between 2015 and 2018, the defendants controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (SLSW or Sailors) through a pattern of racketeering activity, including murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering. Evidence showed that the gang ran a protection scheme in and around its home base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador to further promote the illicit activities of the gang, using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.
The Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as its own membership for breaking gang rules. In June 2016, Alvarado-Requeno ordered members of the Sailors Clique to murder a suspected rival in the woods at Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg. Luring him with the promise of sex with a female MS-13 associate, the gang members ambushed the teenaged victim and stabbed him 153 times. In fact, the victim did not belong to any gang.
In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia, area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz commanded a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder this high school student. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him. After the murder, the defendants helped to hide and protect the killers from law enforcement.
Among the most important rules of MS-13 is the prohibition against talking to law enforcement, embodied by the maxim ver, oir, y callar – see, hear, and say nothing. The gang enforced this rule by placing a “green light” – an order to kill – on any member of MS-13 who was thought to be informing on the gang. In December 2016, Alvarado-Requeno directed and participated in the murder of a 14-year-old member of MS-13 who was suspected of talking to the police. The boy’s remains were discovered eighteen months later in the woods outside of Germantown, Maryland.
The jury made special findings beyond a reasonable doubt that as part of the racketeering conspiracy, Alvarado-Requeno murdered two other individuals and, as part of the racketeering conspiracy, Correa Diaz conspired to murder a third person.
Alvarado-Requeno was convicted of three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine. Corea Diaz was convicted of one count each of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin. Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz each face mandatory sentences of life imprisonment.