Twenty-two members of the Los Angeles-based gang MS-13 have been taken into custody following a two-year murder spree which authorities have dubbed were carried out with "medieval-style" brutality, CNN reported.
The 78-page indictment was unsealed this week and paints a grisly picture of the heinous crimes carried out in Southern California, courtesy of the gangsters.
One of the group's several factions, known as the Fulton clique, has been on the government's radar in recent years since it's grown beyond Los Angeles, spreading to other US cities and to Central America.
In order to earn their membership into the group, prospective new members must go through a viscous initiation process which requires them to murder a rival or other person considered a threat to the gang. Only then are they accepted into the group.
"As you can see, they are preying on their own community," U.S. attorney Nick Hanna said. "And that's what we're here to stop."
The teen's s body was found dumped in the canyons outside of Los Angeles. Investigators discovered he had been taken to the canyons by two female members of the gang whom he'd trusted.
Authorities say the gang will often dump bodies in remote canyons surrounding Los Angeles, or in the neighboring Angeles National Forest.
These charges include nearly 200 criminal acts committed across several states over the span of nine years. Those arrested are accused of violent acts in the name of the gang, including murder of rivals and anyone who was believed to be cooperating with law enforcement.
The indictment also states the group trafficked drugs across state lines, protected other clique members from law enforcement, and collected extortionate rent from local business owners in the area.
It alleges that 16 of those who were arrested took part in six viscous slayings. Officials described those murders as being so "heinous, cruel or depraved" the defendants are in fact eligible for the death penalty. However, prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek capital punishment.
Several MS-13 members kidnapped the man, identified only as J.S., and drove him to the national forest neighboring LA after he reportedly defaced MS-13 graffiti.
There, six people attacked the man with machetes, dismembered him, and cut his heart out of his body.
Nineteen of those 22 entered America illegally in the last three or four years.
All are members and associates of the gang operating in the San Fernando Valley, Hanna said. Two were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes and are being charged in separate filings.
The 22 arrests were made over the span of one year, with the final four being brought into custody in the last several days.
"Taking violent offenders off the street should send a message to MS-13 members and their associates that medieval-style violence and senseless murder will not be tolerated in Los Angeles," he said. "Working with our local partners, we expect o impact MS-13's influence in gang-occupied communities."
