LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio — An alleged leader of the international crime organization MS-13 is being held in the Lucas County Jail and is facing multiple charges including conspiracy to commit murder, distribute narcotics and launder money.
Edenilson Velasquez Larin, 33, along with 22 other alleged MS-13 members, was charged by a federal court in Brooklyn on June 21 after a 48-count superseding indictment was unsealed the same day. Larin was arrested earlier this month on the Ohio Turnpike near Sandusky.
He is awaiting extradition back to New York.
Velasquez Larin faces 10 total charges:
- racketeering conspiracy
- murder in-aid-of racketeering
- assault in-aid-of racketeering
- attempted murder in-aid-of racketeering
- unlawful use, possession, brandishing and discharging of firearms
- causing death through use of firearms
- conspiracy to commit murder in-aid-of racketeering
- money laundering conspiracy
- narcotics distribution conspiracy
- continuing criminal enterprise
Lucas County Deputy Chief Wes Bombrys said Velasquez Larin is under maximum security due to a propensity for violence, although there have been no issues while incarcerated here. He spends 23 hours a day alone in his cell and is monitored during the remaining hour.
At least two officers escort Velasquez Larin whenever he is moved.
According to CBS News, the indictment detailed a number of murders and attempted murders carried out by the gang against rival gang members as well as their own, often using guns and machetes.
Prosecutors said that starting in late 2019 alleged leaders Velasquez Larin and Espinoza Sanchez ordered alleged MS-13 members, including Jose Arevalo Iraheta, Oscar Hernandez Baires, and Erick Zavala Hernandez, to scour the Elmont, New York, neighborhood in search of rival 18th Street members to kill for encroaching on their territory.
In spring 2020, Velasquez Larin, also known as "Agresor," "Saturno," and "Paco," allegedly arranged for Fulton clique members from Maryland to travel to New York to assist in the search for rival gang members in Elmont, according to prosecutors.
In early 2019, prosecutors said MS-13 members followed a suspected 18th Street gang member onto a subway train in Flushing, dragged him onto the platform and shot and killed him.
Other murders detailed in the indictment included the death of a 17-year-old boy, who was allegedly lured to a Queens, N.Y., park on April 23, 2018 and fatally beaten, stabbed, and strangled. Prosecutors said photos of MS-13 members posing over the teen’s body were found on a member’s phone.
In November of 2018, prosecutors said a Queen’s man was executed by members of the gang near his home.
And in September of 2020, an MS-13 member was killed by a fellow member because of a fight, prosecutors said.