BOSTON (WHDH) - Twenty-six alleged leaders, members, and associates of the Trinitarios, a transnational criminal organization, were indicted on federal racketeering (RICO) conspiracy and drug trafficking charges in connection with five murders and 19 attempted murders in Essex County.
Leah Foley, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said the 26 people charged are allegedly involved with the Lawrence, Haverhill, and Boston Chapters of the Trinitarios. Of the 26, nine were arrested Tuesday morning. Foley said they also seized a number of guns and drugs during the arrests.
“They’re not going to have any leadership to look up to anymore, because we have taken them all down and arrested them,” Foley said.
Court documents revealed the gang’s alleged participation in five murders, 19 attempted murders, efforts to kill witnesses, the trafficking of dozens of kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine to New Hampshire and Maine, extortion of legitimate businesses with the threat of violence, kidnappings and robberies.
“The people charged today can best be described as reckless and ruthless. They are responsible for numerous fatal and nonfatal shootings on busy streets and in dense neighborhoods,” said Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.
Foley said the charges unsealed Tuesday were part of a “…multijurisdictional, multiphase investigation that began in 2024 in the aftermath of four murders and a series of attempted murders and shootings in Lynn, Mass., allegedly committed by the Trinitarios.”
“Today’s arrests should send a clear message that if you bring violence to our communities, we will find you, we will dismantle your organization, and you will face justice,” said Massachusetts State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble.
Over the past two years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said it has charged a total of 56 members who are alleged to have committed or participated in 11 murders and 30 attempted murders since 2017. The investigation also resulted in the apprehension of seven illegal immigrants from the United States who have either been deported, or are currently in deportation proceedings.
All those who were arrested Tuesday morning faced a federal judge in South Boston Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities said they are not ruling out the possibility of more arrests in connection with these cases.
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