WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Acting Homeland Security Investigations Director, Steve Francis, joined Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John J. Durham, Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (“JTFV”), and other JTFV partners, in announcing the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging Yulan Andony Archaga Carías, a/k/a “Alexander Mendoza,” a/k/a “Porky,” and David Campbell, a/k/a “Viejo Dan,” a/k/a “Don David,” with committing racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses in Manhattan federal court, Nov. 3.
Archaga Carías, a Honduran national, remains at large and has been added to the FBI ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and ICE Most Wanted Fugitives list. Campbell, a Honduran national, is currently in custody in Nicaragua.
“Today’s announcement highlights our commitment to working with domestic and international law enforcement partners to dismantle transnational criminal organizations like MS-13,” said Acting Executive Associate Director, Homeland Security Investigations, Steve Francis. “By contributing our unique capabilities to this joint effort, Homeland Security Investigations is helping to make our nation safer.”
As alleged in the Superseding Indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court: 1
MS-13 is a transnational criminal organization that engages in acts of violence, including murders, kidnapping, assaults, extortion, and large-scale drug importation and distribution throughout Central America and the United States. Archaga Carías is the highest-ranking member of MS-13 in Honduras. As the leader and highest-ranking member of MS-13 in Honduras, Archaga Carías is in charge of, among other things, the gang’s drug trafficking operations, ordering and coordinating acts of violence, including numerous murders, and the laundering of drug proceeds. MS-13’s drug trafficking operations led by Archaga Carías include the processing, receiving, transporting, and distributing of multi-ton loads of cocaine shipped through Honduras and into the United States.
Archaga Carías and other MS-13 members and associates acting at his direction, also provided protection for other drug trafficking organizations (“DTOs”) engaged in transporting multi-ton loads of cocaine through Honduras and destined for the United States. Archaga Carías contracted out members of MS-13 as “Sicarios,” or hit men, to other DTOs for payment. In that role, members of MS-13 committed numerous murders for hire for DTOs trafficking cocaine through Honduras to the United States. Archaga Carías and MS-13 also supplied other DTOs with firearms, including machineguns, that were received from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and elsewhere. Archaga Carías also ordered multiple murders of rival gang members and drug trafficking competitors in Honduras, as well as other members of MS-13 whom Archaga Carías believed had been disloyal to the gang.
Campbell was one of the principal suppliers of cocaine and weapons, including machineguns, to MS-13. As an associate of MS-13 and close confidant of Archaga Carías, Campbell planned and coordinated retaliatory acts of violence with Archaga Carías, and assisted MS-13 and Archaga Carías in establishing businesses to launder the gang’s drug proceeds. Campbell and MS-13 used businesses they owned or controlled to launder drug proceeds, including through banks in the United States.
Archaga Carías, 39, of Honduras, remains at large. HSI is offering $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Archaga Carías, should immediately call the national hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Campbell, 54, of Honduras, is currently in custody in Nicaragua on local charges.
If convicted, the defendants both face a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years in prison. A chart containing the charges and statutory minimum and maximum penalties for the defendants is set forth below. The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, DEA, and HSI.
The case is being handled by JTFV and the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Jacob Warren and Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Eason are in charge of the prosecution.
Since its creation in August 2019, JTFV has successfully implemented a whole-of-government approach to combatting MS-13, including increasing coordination and collaboration with domestic and foreign law enforcement partners; designating priority MS-13 programs, cliques and leaders, who have the most impact on the United States, for targeted prosecutions; and coordinating significant MS-13 indictments, including the first use of national security charges against MS-13 leaders. JTFV has been comprised of members from U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, including the Southern District of New York; the Eastern District of New York; the Eastern District of Texas; the District of New Jersey; the Northern District of Ohio; the District of Utah; the Eastern District of Virginia; the District of Massachusetts; the District of Alaska; the Southern District of Florida; the Southern District of California; the District of Nevada; and the District of Columbia, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. All Department of Justice law enforcement agencies are involved in the effort, including the FBI; DEA; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. In addition, HSI plays a critical role in JTFV.
The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Superseding Indictment constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation. | return to text