3 Alleged MS-13 Gang Members in Florida Hit with Federal Murder Charges

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced federal murder charges against three alleged members or associates of the notorious MS-13 gang in connection to the brutal killing of Gerson Vilelio Vasquez-Portillo, 22, in western Palm Beach County back in 2015. Vasquez-Portillo was reportedly an affiliate of a rival gang, making him a target.

The arrests are part of cold-case investigations into four murders from 2014 and 2015 across South Florida, including one particularly gruesome case where the victim was stabbed a shocking 100 times before being shot in the head. Let that sink in for a moment—100 stab wounds. If that’s not outright barbaric, I don’t know what is.

Bondi didn't hold back, labeling the gang members as "terrorists" who believed they could evade justice for nearly a decade. "They are living among us because they think they can get away with this, and they cannot," she said. Talk about a mic-drop moment.

The three suspects—Hugo Adiel Bermudez-Martinez, arrested in Minnesota, and Jose Ezequiel Gamez-Maravilla and Wilber Rosendo Navarro-Escobar, both arrested in Florida—are facing potential death penalty reviews. Bondi made it clear that more arrests are on the horizon, boldly warning gang members, "I’d self-deport right now because we’re coming after you." You can practically hear the door slamming on their escape routes.

The arrests were part of "Operation Sombra De La Bestia" (Operation Shadow of the Beast), a multi-agency effort that included the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities revealed that five other MS-13 members were involved in Vasquez-Portillo’s murder. Meanwhile, other victims included Joel Antonio Canizales-Lara, 18, who was lured to a vacant field in 2014, stabbed roughly 100 times, and buried in a makeshift grave. His remains were only discovered in 2021 after an excavation search. Another victim, Omar DeJesus Gutierrez, 18, was shot for allegedly flashing rival gang signs, even though he wasn’t a documented gang member. Chrislet Ondina, 25, was stabbed to death in 2015 as part of a gang initiation. Chillingly, authorities noted that killing someone is often a rite of passage into the gang.

Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony minced no words: "It doesn’t matter when you committed the crime. It doesn’t matter what part of this world you’re from. If you come here in this community and decide that you’re going to take a life, we’re going to unleash every single resource to bring you to justice." If that’s not a firm promise, I don’t know what is.

The MS-13 gang, originally founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants fleeing civil war, has grown into a sprawling criminal network notorious for its extreme violence, including murder, extortion, and drug trafficking. Their gruesome reputation continues to cast a long shadow across the United States.