A federal grand jury has indicted an alleged MS-13 member on multiple charges stemming from the organization’s drug trafficking business in suburban Maryland.
Luis Arnoldo Flores-Reyes, 37, of Arlington, Virginia, is charged with conspiracy to participate in racketeering enterprise, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
The indictment alleges that from at least 2015 through January 2018, Mr. Flores-Reyes was a member and associate of MS-13’s Sailors Clique and that he engaged in a racketeering conspiracy including extortion, drug trafficking, murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Prosecutors allege members of the Sailors Clique, including Mr. Flores-Reyes, extorted owners of illegal businesses in the Langley Park and Wheaton areas of Maryland, with the profits being sent to MS-13 members in El Salvador. In addition, the Justice Department accused Sailors Clique members of trafficking drugs, including marijuana and cocaine, in Langley Park.
In January, Mr. Flores-Reyes gave directions to members of MS-13 in Houston to purchase a gun and shoot rival gang members believed to have killed an MS-13 member. The rival was shot at while Mr. Flores-Reyes and other members in El Salvador monitored the shooting by phone, the Justice Department said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.