Suffolk County DA on historic MS-13 bust: We need to stay vigilant
Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini on the largest-ever MS-13 crackdown.
Friday's announcement of the largest-ever MS-13 crackdown is a "huge blow" against the gang but the fight is not over, Suffolk, County New York District Attorney Timothy Sini said Saturday
Appearing on "Fox & Friends: Weekend" with hosts Pete Hegseth and Emily Compagno, Sini confirmed that 96 MS-13 gang members and associates were charged with significant crimes in the historic bust including murder, conspiracy, drug distribution, and assault. The ages of those arrested range from 16 to 59 and include U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants.
The developments come following a two-year investigation involving law enforcement from the local to the federal level in Suffolk County, one of the gangs’ longtime hotbeds.
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Sources told the New York Post that most of the arrests were made Thursday and Friday morning.
"And, as a result of intelligence generated throughout the investigation, law enforcement made over 230 arrests throughout the world including in New York, throughout the United States, and in El Salvador," Sini said. "This was a global operation."
Throughout the investigation, authorities recovered drugs in gang members' possession such as cocaine and fentanyl, as well as handguns and more than $200,000 in cash.
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Sini said the use of social media analysis was crucial and they obtained wiretaps on over 215 phones.
"And, I have to say: law enforcement did such a tremendous job because, as they were gathering intelligence, they would use that intelligence in real-time to stop acts of violence and they put their lives on the line to stop those acts of violence," he said.
"This is a huge blow," Sini stated. "This decimates the leadership on Long Island."
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, recruits young teenagers from El Salvador and Honduras, though many gang members were born in the U.S. The gang has been blamed for dozens of killings since January 2016 across a wide swath of New York's Long Island – where Suffolk County is -- the Los Angeles area and the D.C. suburbs.
MS-13 also has been singled out by President Trump for its brutality, which has led to a series of crackdowns by law enforcement.
"I cannot underestimate the blow that this is," he told the "Friends: Weekend" hosts. "However, the fight continues. They will attempt to reconstitute."
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"The leadership in El Salvador will undoubtedly try to send additional leaders to Long Island so they can reconstitute, and we need to stay vigilant," he warned.
Fox News's Greg Norman, Stephen Sorace, and Travis Fedschun contributed to this report.