In her first major criminal announcement Wednesday, new U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley said the federal government indicted 22 members of a transnational gang that has unleashed "years of bloodshed, trafficking, and lawlessness" in North Shore Communities.

Eight alleged members of the gang Trinitarios, including its so-called "State Supreme" Enmanuel Paula-Cabral were arrested Wednesday. 

Gang members accused in murders

The feds allege the gang participated in a number of murders and attempted murders that wreaked havoc in Lynn and Lawrence, including a mass shooting at a college send-off party in Lynn in 2023, an attempted murder at a Pizza Hut in Lynn, the murder of two teens in Lynn in 2023, the murder of a teenage boy in Lawrence in 2017, and the killing of a 25-year-old woman in Lawrence.

Federal investigators say the gang made money off trafficking fentanyl and cocaine from Mexico. The indictment against the defendants is more than 300 pages, and includes videos of drugs, music videos about the gang, and surveillance footage of the killings.

"Magna Carta" for membership

U.S. Attorney Foley told reporters the gang had an organized leadership structure, and even a "Magna Carta" for membership. Gang members had to earn the price of admission by committing a violent act at the command of the group's leaders. Once they were inducted, they received a signature string of beads in different colors based on their membership status.

Accused of recruiting at schools

Foley also said the gang recruited young teens in Lawrence and Lynn High Schools to join. "Children," Foley explained. "They didn't have any moral compass to say no we can't go there; we have to only go to where the bad people are. They cast a wide net."

The investigation involved the coordination of the FBI, local police departments, Massachusetts State Police, the Essex County District Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Eight of the defendants had their initial appearances Wednesday and are being held without bail for now. Two defendants are being extradited from Honduras, and one other is still at large.

"What these individuals are accused of doing to their victims is horrific," said Kimberly Milka, the FBI Special Agent in Charge. "No one should have to fear being shot in cold blood when going out to dinner, to the store, or simply hanging out inside of their own home."

Still, the entire gang – which stretches across countries – has not been eradicated. "Taking out their leadership is going to create a void, and it has created a void, and we do believe by taking out the leadership, the people who were ordering the murders, the retaliation, the intimidation of witnesses," explained Foley.