OAN Staff James Meyers
2:00 PM – Friday, April 4, 2025
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced federal murder charges against three alleged MS-13 gang members or associates in connection to the brutal murder of a man in Florida.
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The three gang members were accused of stabbing and shooting Gerson Vilelio Vasquez-Portillo, 22, in western Palm Beach County in 2015. He was believed to be an affiliate of a rival gang member.
The arrests come after cold-case investigations that took place in 2014 and 2015 in and around Broward County in South Florida, according to officials. One of the victims was stabbed a horrifying 100 times before ultimately being shot in the head.
“These gangs are organized. They are terrorists. And look at these guys, they thought they got away with it for almost a decade but they did not,” Bondi said. “They are living among us because they think they can get away with this, and they cannot.”
The Attorney General said Jose Ezequiel Gamez-Maravilla and Wilber Rosendo Navarro-Escobar were arrested in Florida, while the other, Hugo Adiel Bermudez-Martinez, was picked up in Minnesota.
“We will be reviewing them to see if we will seek the death penalty,” Bondi said. “More arrests are coming. If you are a gang member living in this country, I’d self-deport right now because we’re coming after you.”
The apprehensions were part of a multi-agency operation named ‘Operation Sombra De La Bestia,’ or ‘Operation Shadow of the Beast.’
Additionally, five other MS-13 gang members were involved in the murder of Vasquez-Portillo.
In total nine nine alleged MS-13 gang members have been arrested in connection with homicide cases that had gone cold in Broward and Palm Beach counties, Bondi announced during the press conference.
Other victims that were killed included Joel Antonio Canizales-Lara, who was lured to a vacant field in the Oakland Park area, in November 2014 and was stabbed to death after he had lied about being a gang member, authorities stated. Bondi said he was stabbed an estimated 100 times.
His body was buried in a makeshift grave and was found in 2021 after an excavation search.
Another victim was 18-year-old Omar DeJesus Gutierrez. He was shot after he allegedly flashed rival gang signs. However, he was not a documented gang member, according to court documents.
Twenty-five year-old Chrislet Ondina was stabbed to death in October 2015 as part of a gang initiation for one of the suspects, according to the documents.
Authorities stated on Friday that murdering someone is usually part of the initiation process into the gang.
Tirado-Silva and Cruz-Ortiz were involved in three of the murders while Tovar was involved in two, authorities said.
“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 resources to bring you to justice,” Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said.
The MS-13 gang was first established in the 1980s, in Los Angeles by Salvadoran immigrants fleeing a civil war. Since its creation, the gang has expanded across the country and is known for disturbing violence, including murders, extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking.
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