Crimes involve machetes, baseball bats, strangulation

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(The Center Square) – More than 300 border crime cases were filed this past week in the Southern District of Texas, including violent crimes and murders allegedly committed by Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members.

In one case, eight violent MS-13 gang members, all male Salvadorian citizens, were illegally living in Houston. They used “machetes, a baseball bat and strangulation to expand the gang’s power” and “sent photos of the victims’ bodies to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador, sometimes after mutilating or dismembering them,” according to the charges.

They pleaded guilty to racketeering charges involving multiple murders and witness tampering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. They entered into plea agreements resulting in three men each serving 50 years in federal prison and five facing sentences between 35 and 50 years in federal prison.

“This case demonstrates the tremendous public safety threat that MS-13 and other criminal terrorist organizations pose to American communities,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said. “Here, defendants carried out a series of murders – bludgeoning, butchering, and strangling their victims with sadistic glee. These are people without remorse or pity. When it comes to eradicating these gangs, the United States cannot afford to either relent or fail. As the facts of this case show, the stakes are too high.”

The Trump administration designated the US-Salvadoran transnational gang, MS-13, as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year and federal agents are actively pursuing them to arrest and deport. In the first few months of this year, more than 2,700 terrorist organization members, including from MS-13, were arrested, The Center Square reported. This was after more than 300,000 Salvadorans were reported illegally entering the U.S. under the Biden administration, The Center Square first reported.

The Southern District is one of the busiest in the country, spanning 43 counties and 44,000 square miles, representing more than nine million people from Houston to the Texas-Mexico border.

Of the more than 300 border crime cases filed in the last week, 126 were charged with illegal reentry after removal. The majority have felony convictions for narcotics, violent crime, sexual offenses and prior immigration crimes. An additional 162 were charged with illegal entry; 14 with human smuggling charges; four with firearms offenses and other immigration-related criminal charges, the US Attorney’s Office said.

Many of the cases involve Mexican nationals who repeatedly illegally entered Texas. Some felony illegal reentry after removal cases include those who were deported this summer. Among them was a Mexican national convicted of capital murder of multiple persons and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was removed in June but illegally entered Texas again and was found near Pharr last week, Ganjei’s office said.

In another case, a 33-year-old Mexican national was indicted after illegally reentering the U.S. and being arrested for his second DWI, driving drunk and causing a fatal crash in Harris County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Also in Harris County, a Mexican national and Tango Blast gang member was sentenced in Houston to 100 months for illegally reentering the country more than once. His criminal history dates back to age 14 and includes multiple burglaries/thefts of vehicles, evading arrest and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In the Rio Grande Valley, a Mexican national who was illegally living in the Weslaco area was sentenced to 204 months in prison after being convicted of weapons and drug charges. His criminal history includes felony possession of a firearm, illegal reentry.

Other criminal complaints involve Mexican and Honduran nationals who were previously deported who illegally reentered Texas and have prior convictions. They face up to 20 years in prison, if convicted, Ganjei’s office says.

The cases also include prosecution of Texas residents for human smuggling. In one case, an Alamo resident pleaded guilty to transporting Mexican citizens hiding under blankets in a tractor-trailer sleeper cab. In another, a La Villa resident and repeat human smuggler received a 46-month-prison sentence for conspiring to transport 27 illegal foreign nationals, including two children. His prior convictions include bulk cash smuggling and transporting illegal foreign nationals, the US Attorney’s Office said.