A high-ranking leader of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) was arrested in New York on Tuesday for allegedly participating in a racketeering conspiracy that included 11 murders.
Joel Vargas-Escobar, commonly known as “Momia,” was indicted in the District of Nevada on accusations of a racketeering conspiracy involving 11 killings, as well as two counts of murder-in-aid for racketeering and firearms offenses. Vargas-Escobar, who had previously been deported to El Salvador before unlawfully re-entering the United States, had been a fugitive for nearly four years.
“The American people are safer following the arrest of yet another MS-13 leader thanks to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Joint Task Force Vulcan,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This terrorist entered our country illegally and is accused of orchestrating 11 murders — under President Trump’s leadership, we will not rest until this terrorist organization is completely dismantled and its members are behind bars.”
FBI Director Kash Patel stated, “The arrest of yet another violent and dangerous MS-13 leader is a major win for our FBI agents, law enforcement partners, and safer American streets. Our agents and analysts are continuously coordinating across multiple field offices and investigating with our valued partners to keep this work going — and we will not stop until that work is done.”
According to court papers, MS-13 is a transnational gang with a substantial number of Salvadoran and Central American members. The gang, which has over 10,000 members in at least 10 states and Washington, D.C., as well as thousands more in Central America and Mexico, is notorious for using violence and intimidation, including murder. MS-13 engages in various criminal operations, including burglary, theft, and narcotics sales, and is structured into subsets known as “cliques,” each led by “shot callers.”
Vargas-Escobar and his co-defendants allegedly held key roles within the MS-13 network in Las Vegas and California. The indictment explicitly charges members of the “Parkview” group with 11 murders in Nevada and California over the course of about a year. Prosecutors assert that they kidnapped several victims, transported them to secluded areas, tortured them, and then murdered them.
Vargas-Escobar is accused of commanding the Parkview gang in Las Vegas and personally ordering two murders. In 2018, El Salvador deported Vargas-Escobar, who later illegally returned to the United States.
The arrest operation was led by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, with assistance from the FBI’s Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York field offices, the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, and Joint Task Force Vulcan.
Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), which was formed in 2019 to combat MS-13 and has since expanded to include Tren de Aragua, includes U.S. Attorney’s Offices from multiple districts, the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, the Criminal Division, and various law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and Federal Bureau of Prisons.