EL PASO, TX - More than two dozen members of a Dominican prison gang have been indicted on federal racketeering charges in connection with numerous murders and attempted murders as well as drug trafficking in Massachusetts.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that 26 members of the Massachusetts Trinitarios, including seven of whom have been deported or face deportation, were indicted as part of an ongoing investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations in New England and Homeland Security Task Force partners, FOX2 reported.
The Trinitarios gang is believed to have been formed inside New York's Rikers Island Prison in the early 1990s to protect incarcerated Dominicans and other Hispanic inmates. They are known for wielding machetes and carrying out swarm executions, ICE said.
The gang also produces music and music videos featuring members of Trinitarios colors and clothing holding weapons and cash. The lyrics of their songs typically boast about making money by distributing drugs and threatening rival gangs.
Prosecutors said the Trinitarios have chapters in the Massachusetts towns of Lawrence, Lynn, Boston and Haverhill, each of which has a "cabinet" of leaders who recruit new members, discipline others and collect revenue. Court documents further allege that the Trinitarios have a written "Magna Carta" that defines the organization's structure and rules as well as its slogans, symbols, colors and practices.
Those include having recruits carry out "missions," which generally include violent acts like shootings, beatings, or first fights with rival gang members.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said the 26 Trinitarios were indicted on June 9 under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) violations related to five murders, 19 attempted murders, the trafficking of dozens of kilograms of drugs, extortion, kidnapping, robbery and firearms charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that over the past two years, “relentless in its efforts to dismantle and decimate the Trinitarios in Massachusetts,” it has charged a total of 56 members who are alleged to have committed or participated in 11 murders and 30 attempted murders since 2017.
"It is safe to say that for far too long the Trinitarios have wreaked havoc and instilled fear in our communities. Murders, attempted murders, kidnapping, witness tampering and extortion. The list goes on and on, but that ends today. Their boldness and hubris are quite frankly astounding. It appears the defendants believed they were immune from prosecution. They were wrong,” said Leah B. Foley, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
"Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in my office 56 Trinitarios have been taken off the streets and their entire leadership has been decimated." HSI New England Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Grimming said Massachusetts communities are safer after the arrests of the alleged members of the Trinitarios.
"This deadly transnational street gang has inflicted senseless violence and terror upon our communities – from drug trafficking and gun violence to kidnapping and murder — but we are working tirelessly to hold them to account,” he said. “We’re facing more dangerous, more violent, and more complex crime than ever before, but HSI and the Homeland Security Task Force are ready to meet the challenge."
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