26 Gang Members Charged in Case Tied to 5 Murders

An investigation led by the Homeland Security Task Force resulted in the indictment of 26 alleged members of the Trinitarios gang on Tuesday in Massachusetts on multiple charges, including drug trafficking and murder.

The individuals were indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a June 9 statement.

RICO is a federal law that targets organized criminal activity and racketeering. The defendants are accused of five murders and 19 attempted murders. Other charges include kidnapping, robbery, and extortion.

Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have already arrested 24 out of the 26 accused gang members.

In addition, the probe led to the arrests of seven illegal immigrants. These individuals have either been deported or are facing deportation proceedings.

“Massachusetts communities are safer today after the arrests of 24 alleged members of the Trinitarios,” said HSI New England acting special agent in charge Jeffrey Grimming.

“This deadly transnational street gang has inflicted senseless violence and terror upon our communities—from drug trafficking and gun violence to kidnapping and murder—but we are working tirelessly to hold them to account.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ), said a in June 9 statement that the charges unveiled against the defendants are part of a multiphase investigation that began in 2024. The individuals charged are alleged members, associates, and leaders of Boston, Haverhill, and Lawrence chapters of Trinitarios.

Authorities seized more than 600 grams of fentanyl, about 200 grams of cocaine, items used in the manufacturing and packaging of these drugs, and three firearms from the gang’s stash house in Tewksbury.

Over the past two years, authorities have charged a total of 56 Trinitarios members, alleged to have taken part in or committed 11 murders and 30 attempted murders since 2017.

The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative set up pursuant to a January 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

The order said there was an “unprecedented flood” of illegal immigrants into the United States under the previous administration, with many of them posing “significant threats to national security and public safety.”

Trump ordered the establishment of the Homeland Security Task Force, saying that its objective is to end the presence of criminal cartels and foreign gangs in the country, and dismantle human smuggling and trafficking networks

In its statement, the DOJ said the case was also part of Operation Take Back America. Established in March last year via a memorandum from then-deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, the operation seeks to implement certain core objectives such as repelling the influx of illegal immigrants and achieving the elimination of cartels and transnational organizations. 

Commenting on the Trinitarios indictments, FBI Boston said in a June 9 post on X that “more than 30 illegal firearms have been seized and kilos of deadly drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine, & methamphetamine will no longer reach our neighborhoods.”

The effort involved around 250 special agents and task force officers with FBI Boston, HSI New England, and the Massachusetts State Police, which combined took down “this extremely violent Dominican street gang that has fueled addiction, violence, intimidation& fear in our region,” FBI Boston said in another post.

Targeting Criminals

The Trump administration is facing opposition in its efforts to target foreign criminals operating in the United States.

Earlier this month, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) announced it had submitted comments to the House Judiciary Committee opposing the Deport Alien Gang Members Act, or H.R. 175.

The Act, introduced in March last year, makes non-Americans linked to criminal gangs inadmissible into the United States. If these individuals are within the country, they would be deported. The measure establishes procedures for designating groups as criminal gangs.

In its comments, AILA accused the bill of having “vague terms and overly broad drafting” that could result in immigration agencies targeting people who have no links to gangs.

“As a result of its overbreadth, the bill could wrongly block access to all forms of immigration status, including asylum, relief under the Convention Against Torture, and other humanitarian protection for people who legitimately qualify and have no criminal history,” AILA said.

Meanwhile, on June 5, the DOJ announced that Operation Spring Cleaning, a nationwide FBI effort, led to the arrests of more than 1,100 individuals, the seizure of over 2,700 pounds of narcotics, and the seizure of almost 1,000 illegal firearms, all within three months.

In a June 10 post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said that the Denver HSTF has seized about 376 pounds of fentanyl and approximately 1,568 pounds of meth this year as of June. The task force leads the country in terms of fentanyl seizures this year.

In addition, “through the Violent Criminal Enterprise Task Force, they’ve also had tremendous success taking down violent gangs like Tren de Aragua—including one investigation which led to RICO charges against leaders of TdA for a string of violent crimes in the Denver metro area,” Patel said.

In February last year, the State Department designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua (TdA) as a terrorist organization.