By: Benyamin Davidsons

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney says Long Island could not have taken on the notorious MS-13 gang without assistance from the federal government— pointing to three twisted rules employed by the migrant gang which made them the most dangerous in New York State. As reported by the NY Post, Tierney revealed in an interview that MS-13 posed an even greater threat than other migrant crews like the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, because individual advancement in MS-13 is based on their track record of violence and murder.

“That’s the purpose of MS-13, to be the biggest, baddest, most violent gang in the world,” said the DA who has served for some 30 years at both state and federal levels. “They considered murder part and parcel of what they did. And that’s how you gained prestige and respect and moved up in the gang, by committing outrageous acts of violence, including murder.” He added, “In the ethos of the gang the best way to accomplish that would be with your hands, a club machete,” Tierney said.

Tierney told the Post, in the interview that his Long Island office’s success in shutting down much of the gang was largely thanks to the feds. “The reason why it’s gotten significantly better is primarily the federal government — the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office. And I was part of that, but it was those agencies. They took a lot of these violent actors off the streets and made it better.”

The dangerous international MS-13 gang, which stands for Mara Salvatrucha 13, was formed in the U.S. by immigrants from El Salvador, who fled civil war in their own country from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, per federal officials. The gang was originally formed to protect migrants from violence, but it developed into one of the most ill-repute criminal enterprises in America— relying on violent attacks even more than traditional criminal activities, like drugs and robberies, which turn a profit.

Per the Post, Tierney revealed the gang’s three internal rules which must always result in a death sentences — no member can cooperate with police, no outsider can disrespect the gang, and rival gangbangers are to be executed on sight. In New York, MS-13 established a strong grip on Long Island, peaking in 2015, making their mark via ruthless and merciless violence against even innocent teenagers. A female member of the gang, nicknamed “Little Devil”, was sentenced to 50 years in prison in October for luring four men to a local park where they were murdered by MS-13 thugs. Leniz Escobar, aka “Diablita,” 24, had been convicted in 2022 of four counts of murder in aid of racketeering and one count of racketeering in connection with the horrid deaths.

Another member, Alexi Saenz, 29 — the reputed former head of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside clique — confessed in July to a series of killings which included the deaths of Nisa Mickens, 15, and 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, who were beaten and hacked to death in 2016. Despite the arrests and increased FBI intervention, in March 2024, Suffolk County police uncovered two severed heads and other scattered body parts at a Babylon park which MS-13 is believed to be responsible for.

The Trump administration recently designated MS-13 including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations.