Photo Courtesy of the Department of Justice
Member of the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13 poses in front of a mural dedicated to the violent gang.
By Forum Staff
Four reputed members of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang have been indicted for their roles in a 2016 shooting in Jamaica that left a 16-year-old rival paralyzed, federal prosecutors announced on Friday.
Melvi Amador-Rios, Santos Amador-Rios, Yan Carlos Ramirez, and Antonio Salvador were charged with assault, murder conspiracy, and attempted murder in-aid-of racketeering, along with a related firearms offense.
According to federal authorities, Melvi Amador-Rios, 27, is the leader of the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, which operates in Jamaica. On Oct. 22, 2016, Amador-Rios directed a low-level CLS member, known as a “chequeo,” to obtain a firearm from his brother, Santos Amador-Rios, 31, and use it to murder a rival gang member. The CLS chequeo obtained the gun and enlisted two other CLS chequeos to assist in the murder. Yan Carlos Ramirez, 28, and Antonio Salvador, 30, instructed the three CLS chequeos how to use the weapon to carry out the murder. During the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2016, the three CLS chequeos confronted a suspected member of the rival 18th Street gang in Jamaica, beat him, and then shot him in the head. The victim survived the attack, but is now a paraplegic as a result of the injuries he suffered, according to federal prosecutors.
“Gang violence simply serves no purpose other than to poison our communities with fear and menace,” said FBI-NY Assistant Director-in-Charge Bill Sweeney, Jr. “These gang rivals acted on baseless rage, and this victim’s life is now changed forever.”
