Feds bust Trinitarios gang members with RICO, murder charges

(by Flint McColgan, Boston Herald) – The bloodthirsty Trinitarios gang blamed for a decade of slaughter in the Bay State has been dealt a major blow by a federal task force.

Two dozen alleged members have been arrested in what the U.S. Attorney said is a great start for “dismantling” the gang’s relentless “bloodshed.”

The state-level leader in Massachusetts was Enmanuel Paulo-Cabral, 33, who goes by “Nelfew,” “Gordo” and “Manny,” the feds say, and he is one of the eight arraigned Wednesday in federal court on racketeering and murder charges.

“For well over a decade, Trinitarios gang members have engaged in brazen acts of murder, assault and drug distribution — instilling fear in the communities of Lynn and Lawrence in particular,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

“Today’s law enforcement action has struck a significant blow against the leadership of the Trinitarios operating in Massachusetts — virtually dismantling an organization responsible for years of bloodshed, drug trafficking and lawlessness,” she continued.

The Trinitarios organization began in the 1990s by Dominicans in the New York City jail at Rikers Island, according to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case. It is named after three revolutionaries from the Dominican War of Independence against Haiti, which law enforcement says “provides an underlying patriotic veneer to the gang’s activities.”

Foley said that gang members “cast a wide net and recruited very vigorously,” targeting Dominican teens from area high schools. Those young recruits would then go through a probationary period until they complete a “mission,” according to law enforcement, “which is generally a substantial act of violence such as a shooting” — for which the recruit is awarded ceremonial beads and membership, according to court documents.

The investigation into the gang’s presence in Massachusetts began following a rash of violence in Lynn in 2023, which is one of the four cities law enforcement has identified as having heavy Trinitarios presence, along with Boston, Lawrence and Haverhill. The investigation identified 12 homicides in Essex County that authorities attribute to the gang, including 10 over the past decade.

EWI = Entry Without Inspection (Illegal Immigrant); LPR = Legal Permanent Resident (Green Card); USC = United States Citizen

The Lynn violence consisted of two double-murder drive-by shootings. The first was on Sept. 2, 2023, when shots rang out into a party on Essex Street to send off a neighborhood teen to college. Jandriel Hernandez and Abraham Diaz would lose their lives. The next was Dec. 27, 2023, on Camden Street in Lynn, when Kyle Mel and Isaiah Acevedo were killed.

Foley explained how it went down: “A few hours after Paulo-Cabral gave orders, Trinitarios in a vehicle approached three young men in Lynn who were simply walking home. The alleged shooter, … opened fire with a fully automatic firearm, spraying dozens of rounds and killing two of the three victims, one being a 16-year-old boy.”

Essex District Attorney Paul Tucker remembered the shooting during his time at the press conference, and recalled his interactions with the community from August through December 2023, when “a wave of violence was unleashed upon the city of Lynn. … When kids were afraid to walk to school when families and community members were afraid to come out at night.”

“I stood on Essex Street on September 2nd, 2023, just hours after the shooting,” Tucker said. “Think about a celebration where somebody is being sent off for their freshman year of college and that celebration is punctuated by gunfire. Seven people shot — two fatally [neither of whom were the gang’s intended target] — that morning on Essex Street.”

“Today is a good day,” he said. His began with having his office call victim families at 6:30 that morning to inform them of the arrests. While he said it was hard for them to relive that trauma, it was important to “close that loop.”

“There’s nothing like seeing families that are in such distress who have lost so much after crimes like these to be able to stand here today and bring a measure of justice, there’s some sense of gratitude not only for the families but for law enforcement as well,” Tucker said.

Trinitario leader Enmanuel Paulo-Cabral, was one of the 8 arraigned Wed. in federal court on racketeering and murder charges.

Also charged at the federal level on various conspiracy, murder and drug charges are, all from the Lynn chapter of the organization: Justin “Tuto” or “Mimi” Alba, 25; Darwin “El Py” Batista, 21, Janoy “El Viejo” Batista, 34; Aaron “Sosa” Diaz Liranzo, 26; Luis “Chiquito” Enrique Santana, 30; David “Bambino” Garcia, 23; Israel “Menol” Gracia Vasquez, 23; James Jimenez, 25; Westyn “Muddy” Lantigua, 24; Michael “Trucho” Miliano, 22; Kelvin Liranzo “Woopty” Roman, 25; Warly Ruiz, 30; Tomy “Manito Bello” Sanchez Tejeda, 35; Abel “Riko” Severino Reyes, 21; Yeferson “Illuminati” Vallecillo Cambar, 23; Wilving “Bolu” Lopez, 24; and Ricardo “Rio from the Sin” Bratini-Perez, 26.

Also federally charged are the alleged second-in-command, or “Flag” of the state-level gang’s leadership, Ery “Racacha” Jordani Rosario, 32; Carlos Javier “Kreepy” Ramirez Cornielle, 16; as well as alleged gang members Elvis “Honduras” Trujillo, 27, of the Lawrence chapter; Angel “Big Boy” Santos, 25, who is noted by the feds as a gang “security officer”; Luis “Sopita” Heffrey Santana, 27, the “Primera Number One” of the Manchester, N.H., chapter; Eric “Maniactico” Rosario, 26, of the Lawrence chapter; Robert “Piccarine” Santana, 29, of the Lawrence chapter; and Rosnel “Jai” Polanco, 26, of the Lawrence chapter.

Two other alleged gang members are charged for murder by the Essex District Attorney’s office: Leonardo “Pinina” Espinoza, 15; and Robert “Petete” Severino, 25, of the Lawrence chapter.

Published at BostonHerald[.]com on Feb. 20. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.