Even in the violent world of the MS-13 street gang, the killings in northern Virginia in the summer of 2019 stood out. In that year, "the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area became an MS-13 hunting ground," in the words of prosecutors.
Law enforcement had become accustomed to MS-13 killings involving rival gang members, or ones in which MS-13 members themselves became victims when suspicions arose that they were cooperating with police. What was new, prosecutors say, was that victims were chosen at random, with no connection to MS-13 or any other gang.
On Tuesday, gang leader Melvin Canales Saldana, whose orders set off the killings, was sentenced to life in prison, as was another gang member convicted of carrying out one of them. A third member was sentenced to 14 years in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder but was acquitted of carrying out the killing himself.
Prosecutors revealed that Canales, also known as "Demente," held the position of the second-ranking member in the Sitios clique of MS-13, a group with a significant presence in northern Virginia. In spring 2019, Canales instructed midlevel members to escalate their efforts in targeting rival gang members. Prior to this directive, the clique primarily focused on trafficking cocaine between New York and Virginia.
Following Canales' orders, MS-13 members began patrolling Virginia and Maryland in search of rival gang members. However, their attempts were unsuccessful, leading them to instead target random civilians to enhance their standing within the gang.
"The murders carried out in response to the defendant's directive may initially appear like a tale from urban folklore," remarked prosecutors John Blanchard and Matthew Hoff in court documents. "The notion of gang members forming hunting parties and indiscriminately killing individuals they encountered was previously unheard of."
In August 2019, gang members targeted Eric Tate as he made his way to an apartment complex to meet someone, resulting in his fatal injury on the street. The following month, Antonio Smith was fatally shot six times as he returned from a convenience store. According to court records, Smith questioned his assailants about the reason for the attack.
MS-13 Gang Member Convicted in Double Slayings
At a separate trial, three other MS-13 members, including the gang's U.S. leader, Marvin Menjivar Gutiérrez, were convicted for their roles in the double slayings of Milton Bertram Lopez and Jairo Geremeas Mayorga. Their bodies were found in a wooded area of Virginia's Prince William County in June 2019. The defendants from that trial have not yet been sentenced.
Canales' attorney, Lana Manitta, said she will appeal her client's conviction. She said that the targeting of innocent civilians was against her client's wishes, and that his underlings tried to portray the shooting victims as legitimate gang rivals to him so that they would earn their promotions within the gang.
"Mr. Canales repeatedly warned clique members to 'do things right,'" Manitta said in court papers.
In 2022, Canales was among 12 MS-13 gang members and associates who were indicted on charges of racketeering, drug trafficking, and a series of murders.
Prosecutors say that Canales joined the gang at age 14 or 15 while he was living in El Salvador and that he came to the U.S. illegally in 2016 to evade arrest warrants in that country.
MS-13 got its start as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles but grew into a transnational gang based in El Salvador. It has members in Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, and thousands of members across the United States with numerous cliques, according to federal authorities.
"The organized crime syndicate operates with precision and is deeply entrenched in profitable illegal activities, gaining notoriety for its brutal tactics to achieve its goals," stated the Justice Department. "Fear and coercion are employed to extort payments from both legitimate and illegitimate business owners for the privilege of operating within MS-13 territory."
In response to this threat, the Department of Justice established a specialized task force in 2018 to combat the transnational criminal activities of MS-13. Over the period from 2016 to 2020, approximately 500 members of MS-13 have been found guilty of various offenses, with 37 individuals receiving life imprisonment, officials disclosed.
Recently, the U.S. government announced a $5 million bounty for details leading to the capture and conviction of MS-13 gang leader Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, also recognized as "El Porky." In 2021, the FBI included him in their top 10 most wanted list.
