HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Seven members and associates of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang are charged with three murders as part of a squad that allegedly killed, robbed and dealt drugs on the streets of Houston, officials said Thursday.
The defendants are tied to the gang, which is known as MS-13 and has roots in Central America, federal authorities said as they announced the unsealing of a federal indictment.
"Gang activities reach out from far beyond the neighborhoods in which they are ongoing and into the communities in which we live," said Jose Angel Moreno, the top federal prosecutor for a region that stretches from Houston to the Mexican border.
Those charged committed their crimes in the name of the gang, according to a statement released by Moreno's office.
Among the charges are the murders of Saul Garduno, 15, Jonathan Hernandez,24, and Anayanci Roche, 17, who were killed in March, May and June of this year, respectively.
Stephen Morris, head of the FBI's Houston office, said the investigation is not over. He called on the community to contact authorities with any further information about MS-13 or other criminal groups operating here.
"We will continue to pursue MS-13 and any gang members who seek to poison our streets with drugs and violence," Morris said.
The defendants are Hector Ovidio Molina Fuentes, 33; Jose Gabriel Garcia Calderon, , 19; Ernesto Manuel Mejia, 18; Samuel DeJesus Argueta, 21; Ronald Alexander Gomez, 19; Jaime Eduardo Lopez Torres, 29; and Carlos Contreras, 21.
