ERO Washington, D.C. operation nets indictments for 12 gang members in alleged RICO conspiracy

WASHINGTON — An investigation conducted by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C., the FBI’s Washington Criminal and Cyber Divisions, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia resulted in charges for a dozen members of a violent transnational criminal organization in a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act conspiracy that included kidnapping, murder, robbery, witness tampering and drug trafficking. All 12 suspects named in the March 3 indictment are documented members of the notorious 18th Street gang.

Deportation officers with ERO Washington, D.C.’s Fugitive Operations Team and officials from partner agencies arrested the final suspect on the morning of March 3. The other 11 were already in custody.

ERO Washington, D.C.’s deportation officers assisted with record checks and identified immigration backgrounds on all the indictment’s subjects. The officers also surveilled the subjects for several weeks and helped the FBI identify people while executing search warrants on the subjects’ homes. Additionally, authorities from ERO Washington, D.C.’s Fugitive Operations Team took the lead in apprehending four of the people listed on the indictment.

The investigation alleges that the defendants intentionally conspired to conduct and participate, directly and indirectly, in the enterprise’s conduct through a pattern of racketeering activity consisting of multiple murders, kidnappings and other crimes. It also alleges that the defendants financed their enterprise through drug sales, illegal firearm sales, armed robberies and member dues between at least 2019 and 2022 in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and elsewhere.

The suspects face charges including conspiracy to participate in a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, possession and discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States, and tampering with a witness, victim or informant.

The indictment further alleges that 18th Street gang members engaged in murder, kidnapping, assault, threats of violence and other crimes to preserve, expand and protect the gang’s power, territory and reputation; be promoted within the gang; and punish and discipline members and associates who violated the rules, including improperly associating with rival gang members. For example, on July 14, 2021, members of two cliques — Tiny Locos Surenos, or TLS, and Los Crazy Brothers, or LCB — allegedly murdered Carlos Ramos Martinez, partly due to his association with a rival faction within the 18th Street gang. Additionally, on December 19, 2021, members of the same two cliques allegedly murdered Danis Alcides Salgado Mata because they believed he was a member or associate of a rival gang.

According to the investigation, members of the 18th Street gang are required to commit acts of violence to further the gang’s interests. They often direct these violent acts at rival gang members, 18th Street gang members who violate gang rules or otherwise disrespect the gang, and people they suspect are cooperating with law enforcement. Additionally, 18th Street members sell and transport narcotics, weapons and other contraband to financially support the gang and its criminal activities, and they wire some of their to the gang’s leaders in other countries. Often, 18th Street gang members control geographical areas and use violence to maintain control.

Members of 18th Street are organized into cliques, which are smaller groups operating within specific cities or regions. Cliques, including TLS, LCB and the Revolucionarios, operate under the umbrella rules of the 18th Street gang. All 12 suspects in this indictment are members of one of these three.

The 18th Street gang is highly organized and well structured. It follows initiation rituals and uses specific gang signs, colors and symbols. It also requires members to adhere to and enforce specific rules of conduct and payment of dues that are used, in part, to support the gang and its members. 18th Street cliques often work cooperatively to engage in criminal activity and help each other avoid law enforcement detection.

In addition to federal prison sentences, the government is also seeking forfeiture of assets acquired through the gang’s illegal activities.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

As one of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.