According to Federal authorities, three MS-13 members—Noel Portillo-Romero, Ernesto Torres-Hernandez and Omar Zavala-Ventura—conspired to kill 27-year-old Carlos Lopez-Lopez in cold blood.
Lopez-Lopez was a former member of their outfit whom they suspected turned informant. His body was left on the shoreside at the end of Blue Point Avenue back in early March. He was stabbed and drowned.
The South Shore Press previously reported from the crime scene, the same day Lopez-Lopez was identified as the victim.
In their letter to the court trying the case of the three alleged perpetrators and their two accessories, assistant US Attorneys wrote: “The exceedingly violent nature of these murders exemplifies the twisted and homicidal culture of the gang, and the undisputable danger that these defendants pose to the community.”
Given the fraternal hazard of his allotment, the departed is considered no patron saint himself. Officials at the federal level contend he was linked to an earlier gang-related killing: the October 23rd, 2023 murder of Yoneli Ramos-Moreno in Sunken Meadow Park.
Ramos-Moreno, an ex-associate of the gang, was targeted for working with their “Latin King” rivals. He was strangled with a rope and beaten to death before being discovered by hikers.
The unsealed federal indictment announced this week ties both murders to MS-13’s Hollywood Locos and Carlington Locos cliques. Each has a notorious foothold on Long Island.
Additional parties named in the indictment include David Orellana-Aleman, described as the ringleader of the gang, and Cruz Eduardo Sanchez-Gutierrez. The former remains in ICE custody in Texas as of this publication. Zavala-Ventura was already in federal detention.
The rest were arranged on Wednesday in Central Islip. Each faces life in prison—and potentially the death penalty—if convicted.
Racketeering and narcotics trafficking charges have also been issued to the defendants in question.