Attorney General Pam Bondi announces the arrests of multiple alleged MS-13 gang members in Florida.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us here today at this press
00:12conference related to an operation that's been ongoing, ongoing quite frankly for almost
00:17a decade now.
00:18This is related to MS3 gang members and the brutality and the nature of the criminal activities
00:23that they committed here, not only in Broward County, but in other parts of the state of
00:26Florida and Palm Beach.
00:28I'm proud to introduce partners that we have here in attendance today who have contributed
00:33to this investigation from providing resources, investigative tools, and our legal guidance
00:38to include our Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Associate Attorney General nominee Stanley
00:44Woodward, Deputy Chief of Staff Catherine Cipher, and from the U.S. Attorney's Office
00:48allow me to introduce United States Attorney Hayden O'Brien, his team, First Assistant
00:53U.S. Attorney Manny Rimboso, and Special Prosecution Chief Ryan Dobson.
00:59Folks, for several years now, this community has witnessed me stand here and talk about
01:04the importance of executing investigations regardless of how long ago they occurred.
01:09And the crimes that we talk about, are going to talk about today, took place back in 2014
01:14through 15, and had it not been for the efforts of our COLE case unit, which we launched back
01:19in 2019, and their ability to dig into these cases and no longer see boxes and hallways
01:26and dismiss the fact that these are victims, these are people, these are members of someone's
01:31loved one or family that are no longer here.
01:34And so today, as the Attorney General introduces her team and talk about the success that we
01:39have in this case, I want this community to remember, here in Broward County, justice
01:43doesn't have an expiration date.
01:45It doesn't matter when you committed the crime, it doesn't matter what part of this world
01:48you are from, if you come here in this community and decide that you're going to take a life,
01:53we're going to unleash every single resource to bring you to justice.
01:56So without further ado, allow me to introduce our U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi.
02:05Thank you, Sheriff.
02:06I feel like I'm back home, being here in Broward.
02:10To our victims' families first, we met with them earlier.
02:14Thank you for being here, and we're so sorry.
02:17And as Sheriff Tony said, your victim was not just sitting there in a box of papers.
02:25They are a victim.
02:26And that's why they have spent a decade finding some of these people who have killed your
02:32loved ones.
02:33So we're very sorry for your loss, and I know you have to relive this, and thank you for
02:38being here today.
02:40So sorry you're going through this.
02:42Sheriff Tony, thank you for your relentless pursuit of justice in these cold cases.
02:48These cases are never cold when it comes to law enforcement.
02:52And I want to also thank Hayden O'Byrne, where's Hayden, our acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern
02:58District, and Brett Skiles, our staff for the special agent in charge for the FBI, and
03:04to all the great men and women of the Broward County Sheriff's Office, who are our Border
03:08Patrol agents, all of our agents who are here, who have done so much to help.
03:16Thank you all to the men and women, especially in Broward, and our victims' advocates, our
03:21interpreters who have helped with this case.
03:24It takes a lot of people to make these cases, and they're so very, very important.
03:29And today, we're here to announce the arrest of three more MS-13 gang members who are in
03:37this country illegally, and they were in Florida, and we will be reviewing them.
03:43They've all been arrested for first-degree murder.
03:45We will be reviewing them to see if we will seek the death penalty.
03:49This has been a long-running investigation that started in 2015.
03:55The victim in this case was brutally, brutally murdered, stabbed approximately a hundred
04:03times by multiple gang members before he was shot in the head.
04:09He suffered tremendously.
04:12And these indictments are a warning to all criminals.
04:16We don't care how long ago you committed the crime.
04:19We don't care where you go.
04:21We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent
04:28of the law.
04:30Gamez Maravilla was located in Lake County, Florida.
04:35Get ready for this.
04:36He was hanging drywall at the Villages when he was arrested.
04:41Barmudez Martinez was apprehended in Minnesota.
04:46Great police work by all of our federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies working
04:52together.
04:53Found this guy in Minnesota.
04:55He thought he got away with this crime, and he did not.
04:59Navarro Martinez arrested right here in North Lauderdale.
05:04They are charged with brutal, brutal, a brutal murder of a young man.
05:11One of these defendants sought him out, convinced him to come with him in his car, took him
05:18to a crime scene where they are all charged with violently stabbing him, almost like a
05:26game to get a higher level in their gang initiation.
05:31They were all part of an MS-13, it's called CLIC, a CLIC that was living right here in
05:37Florida.
05:40They're not just a street gang, they are a highly organized terrorist organization.
05:48Last week in Virginia, you all saw, we arrested one of the worst MS-13 gang members.
05:56He was one of the top three leaders of MS-13 in our entire country.
06:00He was living right in Virginia, half an hour away from D.C., in a nice apartment complex
06:06with normal neighbors, bicycles in yards.
06:10They are living among us because they think they can get away with this, and they cannot.
06:16They're bringing drugs, they're bringing guns, and especially violence to our country, and
06:22under Donald Trump's presidency, that has stopped.
06:30Every seven minutes, an American dies of a drug overdose.
06:41Over 75,000 people die a year of fentanyl overdoses.
06:50More than two homicides an hour happen in America.
06:56We know there is so much more work to be done, and that's why we are all here fighting for
07:02victims of crime.
07:05These gangs are organized, they are terrorists, and look at these three guys.
07:09They thought they got away with it for almost a decade, but they did not.
07:15Thanks to the great men and women of law enforcement, they were found, they were arrested,
07:21and if convicted, they will never see the light of day again.
07:27More arrests are coming.
07:29If you are a gang member living in this country, I'd self-deport right now, because we're coming
07:34after you.
07:37It's my honor today to introduce U.S. Attorney Hayden O'Byrne with the Southern District
07:45of Florida.
07:46Hayden, thank you and your team for your tireless work on everything that you've done to keep
07:51Florida safe, but also to keep our country safe by taking these terrorists off our streets.
07:57Thank you, Hayden.
07:58Thank you, General.
08:06Thank you, General Bondi, for your support of the really strong state and federal partnerships
08:12that we have here in Florida and elsewhere across the country.
08:19Today is just one example of what we can do when law enforcement works together as a team,
08:29as Sheriff Tony and General Bondi have demonstrated here with what we're able to do.
08:37When we join forces like this, we can solve cold cases from 10 years ago.
08:43We can solve these homicides.
08:45We can bring terrorists to justice.
08:49We can take back America, and I hope that we can provide some solace to the victims
08:56of these horrific, horrific crimes.
09:02Sheriff Tony, thank you so much for your support in this case.
09:05We wouldn't have been able to do it without you.
09:09Thank you for your support for so many things, including doing an excavation to find the
09:16body of the victim years after that lot was turned into a housing complex.
09:26Thank you to the cold case detectives and everyone else at your office that worked tirelessly
09:34to pursue these individuals, not just in South Florida, but across the country.
09:43I also want to thank the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland
09:49Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Corrections, the Naval Criminal Investigative
09:55Service, and everyone else that was involved in this prosecution.
10:01We couldn't have done it without you, but when we work together, we can achieve these
10:08indictments and we can secure the convictions of these terrorists.
10:14The United States Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice, we will not stop
10:22working to pursue these terrorists and take back America.
10:28I'd like to welcome to the stage the SAC of the Miami Field Office of the FBI, Brett
10:35Stiles.
10:39Morning.
10:44So on March 6, 2025, three MS-13 members were indicted for violent crimes in aid of racketeering,
10:51also known as VICAR, for a murderous part of an ongoing FBI investigation involving
10:56four homicides in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
11:02So these three indictments represent the last of nine subjects believed to be involved
11:08in four homicides.
11:10Within the last six months, five other MS-13 members have pleaded guilty and six were convicted
11:15of trial for VICAR murder related to this investigation.
11:19One of the convicted – I'm sorry – the convicted MS-13 members currently – one
11:23of them is facing a life sentence.
11:27All the others, if convicted, are also facing life sentences.
11:30MS-13 is a violent international criminal organization that has no respect for borders,
11:36law enforcement, or human life.
11:38In fact, one of the final tests for membership is to commit murder.
11:43They have made inroads into many cities across the country, committing a variety of crimes,
11:48including drug trafficking and extortion, and they must be stopped.
11:53This is why the FBI is dedicated to disrupting and dismantling the most significant gangs
11:58through intelligence-driven investigations and partnerships such as our Safe Streets
12:02Task Forces, the National Gang Intelligence Center, and our Transnational Anti-Gang Task
12:08Forces.
12:09Again, I want to thank our partners in this complex investigation to include the U.S.
12:14Attorney's Office, Customs and Border Protection, the Broward Sheriff's Office, U.S. Border
12:20Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, and the
12:26Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General.
12:29Additionally, I want to highlight the ongoing close cooperation with our law enforcement
12:37partners in El Salvador and Mexico on this and other investigations.
12:42Only through the hard work and diligence of law enforcement professionals within these
12:46organizations was this investigation a success.
12:50The fight isn't over.
12:52Together, as a great law enforcement community, we're better positioned to root out any gang
12:57that seeks to commit violence against our citizens and the communities that we serve.
13:02So now to the South Florida community, we encourage anyone who may have information
13:06about gang activity to come forward and report it.
13:09This information is vital to our ability to keep the South Florida community safe.
13:19Thank you, and thank you to Director Patel.
13:21You have both – the FBI has been working tirelessly to take these illegal aliens and
13:28all of these criminals off of our streets.
13:30Are there any questions?
13:31Hi.
13:32Obviously, the MS-13 gang has been here for the last 10 years.
13:33This is a cold case.
13:34Can you please explain and expand on the scope of how long and why this gang, specifically
13:35in Florida, has affected our communities?
13:36Well, if you could see the pictures of this victim, too, brutally – brutally – any
14:00homicide, in my opinion, is brutal – but brutally stabbed – it's over a hundred
14:04times, right, Sheriff?
14:06All over his body – I mean, his neck, his chest, his entire body, almost like a game.
14:14Didn't they call it a piñata?
14:16They called him a piñata.
14:18That's how frightening and dangerous these people are.
14:23These gangs are organized terrorists.
14:27They have a command structure, and one of the reasons they commit murders in this way
14:33is to increase their level within the gang.
14:37So, yes, they have been operating right here.
14:40One of them, as I said, was caught in Minnesota.
14:42They are living among us, the most violent of violent, but no longer, thanks to great
14:48police work and, again, state, local, and federal agencies working so well together.
14:54We're going to find them all and take them off the streets.
14:57These three were here illegally from El Salvador.
15:00Can you explain how the nine and possibly ten there – how they're – are they responsible
15:06for more than one murder?
15:08If you can talk about the scope.
15:10Multiple murders for the other ones.
15:11Do you want to take that?
15:14Multiple murders.
15:15Yes.
15:16There were a total of four murders involving these defendants down here in South Florida
15:23In the trial that just concluded, the people you see on the top row either pled guilty
15:31or were convicted of those murders.
15:35And then basically everyone on that was involved with the last murder that we've charged.
15:41And the three individuals that have been charged were involved in that last murder.
15:46They were part of the gang where they all went out and brutally stabbed the individual
15:52over a hundred times as part of the gang initiation.
15:56So the three on the top there on the left, they're the ones for that Oakland Park murder?
16:02Yes.
16:03Everybody was involved in the Oakland Park murder.
16:06And then there were three other murders down here in South Florida that various gang members
16:13were involved with.
16:15Ms. Bondi, a question not related to this terrible tragedy.
16:25As you know, it is routine for the department and the FBI to investigate matters such as
16:32the signal scandal, the inappropriate interactions between some of these cabinet secretaries
16:39on secured national defense information.
16:42Last week, you told a reporter that the reason you have chosen not to investigate that was
16:46because you viewed this information as not being classified.
16:52The predicate for opening investigations in the past has not been classification.
16:55It's been sensitive national security information.
17:00So I have two questions.
17:01First, can you tell me how you know it wasn't classified if you haven't investigated?
17:06And secondly, have you discussed this matter with the president or anyone else in the White House?
17:11I have not discussed it with the president.
17:13And secondly, the agencies themselves said it was sensitive, not classified.
17:20I believe one inspector general is looking at it now.
17:23Those cases would have to be referred to me.
17:26They have not been referred to me.
17:28They are being looked at interagency currently.
17:33Anyone else?
17:34Does the FBI have a latitude to open an investigation independently?
17:38Nothing has been referred to us.
17:41These are intelligence agencies, and they are reviewing it internally.
17:45Thank you all so much.
17:47I can take one more.
17:48Hi, Betsy Klein with CNN.
17:49Yeah, hey Betsy.
17:50On the topic of deportation claims, were you informed of Judge Bozberg's March 15th verbal order
17:55to turn claims around?
17:57And were you involved in the decision to defy that order?
18:00I don't think anyone defied an order by a judge.
18:03That's pending in court right now.
18:06I think our attorneys have argued in court.
18:09I think there were arguments yesterday.
18:10We're awaiting a ruling.
18:11I anticipate this will go to the Supreme Court, be ruled in our favor.
18:15I don't believe anyone defied a court order.
18:18I think testimony came out in court that those planes not only had taken off,
18:23but were outside of American airspace.
18:26Moreover, they were illegal aliens from El Salvador,
18:30just like these guys on this chart who are committing violent, violent murders
18:35throughout our country.
18:37These are some of the worst of the worst to qualify under the Alien Enemies Act.
18:41And we should be concerned about the victims of these crimes here in our states
18:46more than these defendants.
18:48Thank you all.
18:49Thank you all.