An illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member pleaded guilty in federal court for a plan to traffic cocaine in the U.S. and racketeering conspiracy.
Efrain Yanes-Vasquez, a 35-year-old El Salvadoran national living in the U.S. illegally, pleaded guilty to the RICO conspiracy charges, as well as conspiracy to distribute cocaine after a three-year investigation by federal authorities.
Yanes-Vasquez is a member of MS-13’s Eastside Loco Salvatrucha clique in the metro area of Boston. With other members of the gang’s Boston clique, Yanes-Vasquez plotted to traffic “kilogram-sized quantities of cocaine in Massachusetts and New Hampshire,” according to a news release.
Yanes-Vasquez was arrested in September 2016, when federal authorities took him into custody while also finding and seizing a loaded, illegal firearm from the home he was living in at the time.
The illegal immigrant gang member faces no more than 20 years, supervision for three years following his prison sentence and a $250,000 fine for the RICO conspiracy charged. For trafficking cocaine, Yanes-Vasquez could see another 20 years in prison, at the most, three years of supervision and a $1 million fine.
Upon his release from prison, Yanes-Vasquez will be deported by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The investigation into the MS-13 gang’s activities in the Boston area saw an indictment of 62 gang members, including Yanes-Vasquez, and leaders of the crime syndicate.
MS-13 is a violent gang that originated in El Salvador and has since crossed into the U.S. Its members are mostly illegal immigrants who are directed to commit acts of violence, including murder, against rival gang members and associates.
Most recently, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump have called out the MS-13 gang as an example of years of amassed illegal immigration into the U.S. with lax enforcement efforts.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.