Federal indictment unsealed against members of alleged Norteño "Murder Squad" operating in Salinas.

They hunted as a coordinated pack, a murderous caravan of young Norteño gang members acting under the direction of the Nuestra Familia prison gang and intent on wiping out rival Sureño gangsters encroaching on their territory and taking a chunk of drug sales they claimed were rightfully theirs. They sprayed bullets seemingly indiscriminately, emptying entire magazines into their victims as they shot from their cars, with shooters being directed via cellphone by spotters riding in other vehicles.

For nearly two years, the killings went on, eight victims in all gunned down around Salinas, and several others wounded by gunfire. 

But of those victims, according to a federal indictment unsealed today, Oct. 22, only one was an actual rival gang member. The rest, authorities say, were regular people who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, targeted based on nothing more than "superficial" commonalities such as the color of their skin or clothing.

In a press conference Thursday morning at the Police Service of Salinas building, David Anderson, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, announced the arrests of six members of the so-called Norteño “Murder Squad,” and how they orchestrated seven shootings and killed eight, while injuring several others with the indiscriminate shooting.

The intent of forming the squad, he says, may have started out as a way of reclaiming the gang’s territory and stronghold over narcotics sales, but it quickly became a way for the alleged shooters to gain status within the gang.

The shooters, he says, could enhance their status within the Murder Squad even if the victims weren’t gang members.

In each shooting, Anderson adds, the violence was extreme because entire magazines were emptied, with between 15 and 35 bullets aimed at their intended targets, but sometimes missing the mark.

Flanked by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni, and Salinas Police Sgt. Chris Lane and detectives Byron Gansen and Gabriela Contreras, Anderson says the indictment describes how the Murder Squad used the multi-vehicle caravan technique to spot victims and avoid law enforcement detection. The squad, according to the indictment, identified victims by characteristics they associated with the Sureños—Latino males, people with shaved heads and people dressed in blue. 

Some shooters, according to the indictment, tried to confirm a target's gang status, but didn't necessarily wait for an answer before opening fire. The defendants are being prosecuted under the RICO—Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization—statute because their alleged actions were done to benefit a criminal street gang.

Arrested were Siaki Tavale, 24, aka "Shocky" or "Gunner"; Andrew Alvarado,  29, aka "Oso" or "Banger"; John Magat, 33, aka "Romeo"; Anthony Valdez, 23, aka "Hitter" or "Tony Boronda"; Mark Anthony Garcia, 29, aka "Tony from Santa Rita"; and Anelu Tavale, 24, aka "Angel."

If convicted of all charges, which include racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, murder and weapons counts, Siaki Tavale, Alvarado, Magat and Valdez could face the death penalty, which is back in use in the federal system. Garcia and Anelu Tavale, meanwhile, face life in prison.

The indictment describes seven "hunts" that took place between January 2017 and November 2018. The federal authorities declined to release the names of all the victims; some of the names have been previously released by the Salinas Police Department.

On Jan. 12, 2017, it's alleged that Siaki Tavale, Alvarado, Garcia and others went hunting for rival gang members to kill, leading them to Sunrise Street where a group of Latino men were standing outside a house party. Four men were shot and two were killed, and there's no evidence any of the victims were gang members. A high-speed chase between the shooters and Salinas Police ensued after the shooting; the alleged shooters' vehicle crashed and they escaped on foot. The murder victims were identified by Salinas police as 27-year-old Jose Luis Flores-Vargas and 25-year-old Alejandro Ramirez. 

On Feb. 11, 2017, Siaki Tavale, Alvarado and others allegedly headed on a hunt and encountered a group of men outside the Hebbron Heights Community Center. The shooters fired 18 bullets at the men, striking one victim in the head and killing him. According to the indictment, the shooters were driving a stolen SUV they had doused in gasoline in case they decided they had to set it on fire. 

A day later, on Feb. 12, 2017, Siaki Tavale, Alvarado, Anelu Tavale and others, allegedly riding in the same SUV, came upon two men riding in another vehicle. They followed the men to a home on Orchard Avenue and as the victims' vehicle pulled into a driveway, the shooters opened fire, spraying at least 20 bullets. The victim was struck in the neck, torso and upper back, but survived. 

On March 25, 2017, Alvarado, Magat, Garcia and others allegedly organized a hunt as retaliation for the recent killing of a fellow Norteño. While driving on Dennis Avenue, they came across two men standing in the driveway of a home, and opened fire, shooting 32 bullets. One man died in the driveway while the other was chased into a backyard and killed. Neither victim, authorities say, was involved in gangs. One of the victims was identified by Salinas Police as Fidencio Torres-Vega, 31, while the other victim was identified as his cousin; his name was not immediately available.

On May 13, 2017, Alvarado, Magat and others hunted on Paloma Avenue, where they saw a man standing on a porch and opened fire, firing at least 15 bullets, striking the man in the head and killing him. Again, there is no evidence the victim was involved in gangs.

On June 11, 2018, after an unexplained year-plus of no activity, Magat, Valdez, Anelu Tavale and others went hunting and came across a man walking down Center Street; they allegedly fired at him 19 times, killing him. There was no evidence the man was invovled in a gang. Salinas Police identified the victim as 45-year-old Sergio Carcamo. 

On Nov. 3, 2018, Valdez, Anelu Tavale and others went hunting, this time, allegedly, to commemorate the birthday of a deceased gang member. They shooters spotted a man walking on North Hebbron Avenue, and fired at least 35 bullets at him. He was shot in the head and killed—again, there's no evidence he was involved in a gang. Salinas Police identified the victim as Felix Francisco, age 43.

The more bodies that accumulated, the more status in the gang the shooters received. 

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.