A dozen purported members of the notorious Trinitarios street gang were arrested and charged for a long list of violent crimes including murder across parts of New York City, Westchester and northern New Jersey, federal officials said Tuesday.
Among the murders they are charged with is the carjacking shooting death of social media influencer Ariela “La Langosta” Mejia-Polanco, 33, a nightlife influencer with more than 550,000 followers on Instagram.
La Langosta was found dead behind the wheel of her vehicle on Aug. 17, 2025 in Mount Vernon. Police said her Mercedes-Benz was located just after 8 a.m., along the parkway’s eastbound shoulder near Broad Street.
The mother of two had left work at the Ikon Night Club in Inwood around 4:30 a.m. Officials said she was likely targeted because of her luxury Mercedes Benz.
The men arrested are all members of Bad Boys, a subset of the ruthless Trinitarios gang, and prosecutors said it was responsible for two-year terror campaign of violent crimes including assaults, armed robberies, carjackings, and at least five murders.
”Their crimes include acts of violence in the Bronx, Manhattan, Westchester, Brooklyn, Essex County, Passaic County, sometimes spanning multiple cities and multiple states on the same night,” said Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“Collectively, we are committed to holding gang leaders and their deadly associates accountable for their truly brutal conduct.”
Westchester County DA Susan Cacace said search warrants executed after the highway killing turned up weapons, ammunition, GPS trackers, telecommunication devices and fake licenses.
According to the indictment, gang members also used a GPS tracker to keep tabs on a prominent international music artist in the middle of a U.S. tour, who was robbed of high-value jewelry in a Fort Lee parking lot.
Thieves tracked the artist from Massachusetts to New Jersey, officials said.
Defendants from the gang were also charged in the shooting deaths of Frankelis Tavarez in March 2024 in the Bronx, Gabriel Alvarez and Adam Waldropt in July 2025 at a car meet in Throggs Neck and Alvis Perez-Liriano in August 2025 outside a barber shop in Newark.
“These defendants, members of the Trinitarios gang, took part in a wave of violence and crime that claimed multiple lives and terrorized neighborhoods,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The charges against those arrested, as outlined in a 15-count federal indictment — include racketeering, conspiracy, murder, firearms use, attempted carjacking resulting in death, assault with a deadly weapon and more.