A federal grand jury this week returned new indictments in a wide-ranging racketeering conspiracy case against alleged members of an MS-13 gang branch who have been linked by authorities to a 2016 fatal stabbing in Germantown.
Nine men are charged with conspiracy to participate in the enterprise known as MS-13, including Michael Eduardo Contreras, 24, of Silver Spring, according to an announcement of the latest indictments released Wednesday by federal prosecutors.
Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, 36, of Long Branch, New Jersey, and Jairo Arnaldo Jacome, 36, of Langley Park, were added to the indictment.
Contreras, Jacome, and Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, 22, of Landover, have been charged in the 2016 killing in Montgomery County, prosecutors said.
The three men are accused of traveled to northern Montgomery County Dec. 4, 2016, and fatally stabbing a man with a machete, leaving his body near a creek. Jacome and others returned the next day and buried the body, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the man was targeted for unspecified “infractions against the gang.”
Contreras’ attorney, Justin Eisele of Seddiq Law Firm, did not respond to requests for comment.
Alvarado-Requeno is also charged with murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering for a Gaithersburg slaying on June 16, 2016, prosecutors said.
MS-13 is an international gang with roots in Central America and branches in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to prosecutors.
Police, federal agents and prosecutors have been on the trail of members of the violent street gang for years and are looking into mid-Atlantic crimes that include murder, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering and robbery.
