{"id":58685,"date":"2025-04-02T19:39:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T02:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=58685"},"modified":"2025-04-02T19:39:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T02:39:58","slug":"high-ranking-ms-13-gang-leader-arrested-allegedly-tied-to-11-murders-along-with-other-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=58685","title":{"rendered":"High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Leader Arrested, Allegedly Tied to 11 Murders Along With Other Crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong>NEVADA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-595 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/FBI-IMAGE-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"FBI Photo\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/FBI-IMAGE-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/FBI-IMAGE-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/FBI-IMAGE-1024x1021.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>A high-ranking MS-13 leader, Joel Vargas-Escobar, also known as &#8220;Momia,&#8221; was arrested last night in New York after nearly four years on the run, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Indicted in Nevada, he faces racketeering conspiracy charges tied to 11 murders, along with two counts of murder in aid of racketeering and firearms offenses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Vargas-Escobar had previously been deported to El Salvador but illegally re-entered the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Vargas-Escobar is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"260\" data-speechifyplaybackhighlighter-highlight=\"true\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">MS-13 is a violent gang with over 10,000 members across at least 10 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and thousands more in Central America and Mexico. Known for murder, drug trafficking, and robbery, the gang is organized into \u201ccliques\u201d led by \u201cshot callers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"262\" data-end=\"657\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Joel Vargas-Escobar, allegedly the leader of the Parkview clique in Las Vegas, played a key role in MS-13\u2019s operations in Nevada and California. He and his co-defendants are accused of overseeing 11 murders, with victims often kidnapped, tortured, and killed in remote areas. Deported to El Salvador in 2018, Vargas-Escobar illegally returned to the U.S. and ordered at least two of the murders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"262\" data-end=\"657\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">If convicted, Vargas-Escobar faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"262\" data-end=\"657\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Officials stated that Trial Attorneys Christopher Taylor and Justin Bish from the Criminal Division\u2019s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melanee Smith and Steven Rose from the District of Nevada are prosecuting the case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEVADA A high-ranking MS-13 leader, Joel Vargas-Escobar, also known as &#8220;Momia,&#8221; was arrested last night in New York after nearly four years on the run, officials stated. Indicted in Nevada, he faces&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Leader Arrested, Allegedly Tied to 11 Murders Along With Other Crimes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NEVADA A high-ranking MS-13 leader, Joel Vargas-Escobar, also known as &quot;Momia,&quot; was arrested last night in New York after nearly four years on the run,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=58685\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Leader Arrested, Allegedly Tied to 11 Murders Along With Other Crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NEVADA A high-ranking MS-13 leader, Joel Vargas-Escobar, also known as &quot;Momia,&quot; 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