Man decapitated, has heart dug out by gang near Washington
WASHINGTON An ultra-violent Latino street gang that United States President Donald Trump has vowed to wipe out beheaded a man and cut out his heart before burying him in a park near the US capital, reports said on Wednesday.
The victim, who has not yet been identified, was stabbed more than 100 times in Wheaton, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C., according to a statement by the Montgomery County Police Department.
Authorities have so far arrested Miguel Angel Lopez-Abrego, 19, on first-degree murder.
Charging documents obtained by Montgomery Community Media and WBAL-TV11 stated that the victim was decapitated and had his heart removed from his chest, in an attack planned for weeks and involving up to 10 people.
As many as 10 members of the MS-13 street gang lured the victim into a park in Wheaton and spoke with one another over walkie-talkies as he arrived, the Washington Post reported.
Police found the body buried in a grave deep in the woods of Wheaton Regional Park that the attackers dug before the slaying, according to court records.
Authorities have not been able to identify the victim, the report said.
The investigation began in early September, when detectives spoke to an informant who said he knew of an MS-13 murder that occurred in the spring of this year in the park.
The informant led detectives to the gravesite, according to court records.
The remains were exhumed and examined by the Maryland Medical Examiner's Office.
PLAN
The charging documents do not cite a motive in the slaying, but investigators believe that the suspects had planned to carry it out for about two weeks.
Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is estimated to have 10,000 members in the US.
The gang works as an umbrella grouping of units known in Spanish as "clicas", some of which are larger and more violent than others.
Authorities last week announced they had netted 214 members of the gang in a month-long nationwide sweep.
More than half of those picked up in the action led by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency were arrested on immigration violations.
But 93 were dealt federal criminal charges including murder, robbery, drugs and racketeering. - AFP
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