Overview
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office unsealed a superseding indictment charging 26 alleged leaders, members, and associates of the Trinitarios with RICO conspiracy, drug trafficking, and acts tied to five murders and 19 attempted murders.
- Law enforcement executed arrests and search warrants that produced dozens of firearms, high-capacity magazines, large amounts of ammunition, and nearly two kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl, though reports conflict on whether nine or as many as two dozen defendants were detained during Tuesday’s actions.
- Prosecutors say their case rests on a long affidavit, recorded calls and social-media material that show a hierarchical, chapter-based gang structure, recorded threats to kill a government cooperator, and members boasting about violence and drug sales.
- The indictment is the latest phase of a multistage, multijurisdictional probe that began in 2024 and that has already produced roughly 56 charges over two years under an operation investigators called Operation Paper Machetes.
- Officials contend removing the gang’s local leadership will make Lawrence, Lynn, and Haverhill safer, and they warned the investigation could yield more arrests and prosecutions as cases move through federal court.