Just beyond the shadows of the White House and U.S. Capitol, three illegal alien members of the notorious Salvadorian street gang MS-13 were convicted last Friday of a slew of violent crimes including openly shooting one guy and viciously stabbing and hacking up another, as well as engaging in racketeering, weapons crimes, and other various no good, very bad things.

Jorge Enrique Moreno-Aguilar (aka Flaco and Castigato), Juan Alberto Ortiz-Orellana (aka Chele and Furia) and Minor Perez-Chach (aka Minor Chach-Perez, Little Bad and Bryant Sacarias), all from Maryland, were convicted last week in the U.S. District Court in Maryland.

From a Justice Department press release issued Friday:

All three defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and murder in aid of racketeering. Additionally, Moreno-Aguilar and Ortiz-Orellana were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and Ortiz-Orellana and Chach-Perez were also convicted on various related firearms charges. …Trial evidence demonstrated that on January 2013, Moreno-Aguilar and Ortiz-Orellana targeted an individual associated with the rival 18th Street gang, obtained photographs of the victim and conspired to murder him with other members of MS-13. On March 12, 2013, Moreno-Aguilar and Ortiz-Orellana went to Capitol Heights, Maryland and shot the victim multiple times outside his home, killing him. According to the trial evidence, in the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 2013, Perez-Chach met a man whom he believed to be a member of MS-13 who had testified against MS-13 members in federal trials. In fact, the victim was not the witness from the previous MS-13 trials, according to trial evidence. Perez-Chach followed the victim to his home in Hyattsville, where he stabbed the victim to death while another member of MS-13 attacked the victim with a machete, trial evidence demonstrated. Evidence presented at trial showed that during his arrest on May 20, 2013, Perez-Chach was found to be in illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

But despite detailing the heinous crimes and boasting of their own success in apprehending such violent criminals, the Justice Department never once referenced the immigration status of the three convicted criminals in their press release. Apparently, informing the public as to whether these guys should have even been in the country in the first place isn’t relevant.

MRCTV contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and asked whether immigration detainers had been placed on the three individuals, which would indicate that the men were not lawfully in the United States and are subject to removal following incarceration.

An ICE spokesperson responded via email:

I can tell you on background that all three individuals have detainers. ICE only places detainers on individuals believed to be removable at the time of the encounter.

Well, now I feel safe.

The DoJ also notes that the infamous criminal gang, which is stocked full of illegal alien criminals, is largely prevalent in the Northern Virginia/Southern Maryland region – forming a rather ironic little cluster around the very city that houses the agencies charged with enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.

MS-13 is a national and transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Prince George’s County, Montgomery County and Frederick County, Maryland. MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the gang. One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible. According to evidence presented at trial, from at least 2009 through October 2014, MS-13 members planned and committed murders, attempted murders, assaults and robberies in Prince George’s, Montgomery and Frederick Counties. Gang members also extorted brothel operators and owners of other illegal businesses and tampered with and retaliated against witnesses, among other crimes.

Montgomery and Prince George's counties are considered suburbs of Washington, D.C., while Frederick County is located just west of Baltimore.

The Maryland cities of Hyattsville and Capitol Heights, where the victims were stabbed and shot, respectively, are located within a 30-minute drive of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's headquarters in Washington, D.C.