FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In a significant stride against gang violence, three suspected members of the MS-13 gang face federal charges over a decade-old murder in Florida, highlighted by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi during a recent announcement. Emphasizing the Trump administration’s commitment to curbing gang activities, Bondi revealed efforts to aggressively target this group, categorically labeled as a “foreign terrorist organization” due to its association with illegal immigration threats.
“Expect more arrests,” stated Bondi. “Gang members residing illegally should consider leaving on their own because law enforcement is closing in on them,” she added.
The charged suspects are part of a larger group of nine individuals arrested in relation to four murders that took place in South Florida between 2014 and 2015. These three individuals were implicated last month, specifically in a brutal killing where the victim endured around 100 stab wounds before being shot, according to Bondi.
Arrested within Florida, Jose Ezequiel Gamez-Maravilla and Wilber Rosendo Navarro-Escobar, along with Hugo Adiel Bermudez-Martinez in Minnesota, are the latest captures. Authorities reached out to their legal representatives for comments following the arrest.
The South Florida killings were notably brutal, executed with knives or machetes, according to police reports. The investigations, which initially ran cold, resumed in 2020, leading to the recovery of missing person Joel Canizales-Lara’s remains after a thorough excavation in 2021. His disappearance dates back to 2014.
This crackdown coincides with Bondi’s recent praise for the capture of the suspected leader of the MS-13 gang on the East Coast.
Over the last ten years, the Justice Department has concentrated its efforts on dismantling MS-13, which began as a local street gang in Los Angeles and expanded into a major transnational organization, rooted mainly in El Salvador. The gang sustains a vast network across Central America, including Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, and boasts thousands of affiliates throughout the United States, operating through numerous factions or “cliques.”