Officials in New York announced that a new anti-gang initiative was taken on Wednesday to crack down on violence by the MS-13 street gang plaguing communities on the Long Island, including four murders earlier in this month. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 25 officers from the New York State Police will be sent to the Suffolk County, including the six new investigators who will join the FBI-led Long Island Gang Task Force and also a new Long Island-based member of the State’s Gang Intelligence Unit.
"Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe and secure in their home, however the recent rash of gang-related violence by MS-13 has threatened the safety of our communities. We must all work together to fight these senseless crimes, and I want Long Islanders to know that New York is launching a full scale effort to help our partners in law enforcement eradicate this violence once and for all," Cuomo said.
Cuomo said that the officers will do more "undercover work," involving the patrols using marked and unmarked cars with an expanded presence in the Brentwood and also Central Islip areas of Suffolk County, located around 40 miles to the east of New York City.
"They are getting more outrageous and obnoxious in their activities," Cuomo said.
"MS-13 are thugs, that's what they are. They are thugs that prey on young people. They seduce them into a life of gang violence," added Cuomo.
MS-13, also called as Mara Salvatrucha, is believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in the Los Angeles in the mid-1980’s by immigrants fleeing a civil war in the El Salvador. It grew after some members were deported to the El Salvador, helping to turn that country into one of the most violent places in the world.
Since the September, 11 victims of the gang violence have been found dead in two adjoining communities in Suffolk County, Brentwood and also Central Islip.
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On April 12th, the bodies of four men ranging the age between 16 to 20 were found in a community park near the children's playground and soccer field in the Central Islip. All four had "significant trauma" wounds inflicted by the sharp instruments, according to the police. Police have offered the $25,000 reward to solve the most recent case, but till now no suspects have been identified.
"The reality is that we are facing a new threat by a criminal organization that is as brazen as it is brutal in the level of violence and brutality," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone on Wednesday.
In the March, police have arrested eight MS-13 gang members in connection with the September killings of two teenage girls in the nearby Brentwood.
Earlier in this month, President Trump and also Attorney General Jeff Sessions both mentioned MS-13, and the Sessions specifically referenced to the Long Island killings before meeting with top federal law enforcement officials on the ways to dismantle violent transnational gangs. Sessions is set to visit the area on Friday to discuss further action.
Mrudula Duddempudi.
