A feared Latin American gang is now believed to be operating in London and has been linked to three killings across the capital.
asserted
gang → believe → capital
Los Trinitarios was founded in 1993 by two Dominican inmates at New York's Rikers Island prison before spreading rapidly across the US, Central and South America, and Spain.
asserted
Trinitarios → found → US
Gang members in the US are said to favour machetes over firearms because they view them as a more 'personal' weapon.
asserted
they → say → weapon
Los Trinitarios takes its name from 'La Trinitaria', a secret society formed to help the Dominican Republic gain independence - although its recruits now come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
asserted
recruits → take → backgrounds
The gang's criminal activities include drug dealing, armed robbery, sex trafficking and prostitution, while members are known for wearing green bandannas.
asserted
members → include → bandannas
The mob is now thought to have reached the UK, with leaders allegedly recruiting children from Spanish-speaking communities around Elephant and Castle in south London.
uncertain
leaders → think → London
The Met Police has not spoken about Los Trinitarios' links to London.
asserted
Police → speak → London
But after the arrest of a man in Barcelona who was convicted of one of last year's three attacks in London, the Spanish interior ministry appeared to confirm its presence there.
asserted
ministry → convict → presence
Los Trinitarios was originally founded in 1993 by two Dominicans held at Rikers Island jail in New York before spreading rapidly across the US, Central and South America and Spain
Yeray Sanchez Morales (pictured) died after being stabbed with a glass bottle
One of Mr Morales' attackers being arrested by a Taser-toting Met Police officer
'The Trinitarios youth group is currently one of the most active and violent groups nationwide,' the statement said.
asserted
statement → found → groups
'[It] has branches in several European countries where, according to investigators, they also carry out violent criminal activities related to drug trafficking, document forgery and scams, among others.
uncertain
they → have → others
The most recent killing linked to the gang was a brutal stabbing attack on a 17-year-old boy outside a McDonald's on the Old Kent Road in south-east London.
asserted
killing → link → London
Yeray Sanchez Morales was sitting outside the restaurant with a friend just before 11pm on August 27 last year when he was stabbed and hit with a bottle in front of a crowd of teenagers.
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he → sit → teenagers
Officers found images of bloodied hands and knives on the suspects' social media pages and used the images - alongside CCTV - to link them to the crime.
asserted
Officers → find → crime
They included 18-year-olds Christhofer Jesus Vasquez and Andres Tapia Londono, who were both convicted of manslaughter and jailed for four years each.
asserted
who → include → years
Isaac Ros Ramirez, 18, of Hackney, east London, and Juan Betancourt Hoyos, 21, of Haringey, were convicted of violent disorder and given community orders, while three 16-year-old boys were also handed community orders for a range of offences.
asserted
boys → convict → offences
Friends said they had no idea why Mr Morales was targeted by the mob.
asserted
Morales → say → mob
Born in Lanzarote to Colombian parents, he quickly settled into his new home and appeared in a feature in the Guardian where he described supporting England in the 2022 World Cup because of how much he loved the country.
asserted
he → bear → country
Giovanny Rendon Bedoya (pictured), 21, died in a 'vicious' onslaught from a South American gang in Hillingdon Street last April
Bryan Villada Hernandez, 20, (left) was apprehended at the scene shortly after the murder, while Joseph Jimenez, 22, was arrested in Chichester
His mother, Elena Morales said her son 'loved to dance and sing', and dreamt of becoming a PE teacher.
asserted
son → picture → teacher
His attackers' trial heard how one of them was heard shouting 'let's go and rob people' and 'vamos, vamos, vamos'.
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's → hear → people
Videos showed Mr Morales being stabbed nine times in the neck and chest.
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Morales → show → neck
He had been sitting next to his friend, also 17, who survived being stabbed in the back of his left shoulder.
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who → sit → shoulder
The prosecutor, Anthony Orchard KC, earlier secured convictions against five men who murdered Giovanny Rendon Bedoya during a 'vicious' onslaught in Walworth last April.
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who → secure → Walworth
The men sliced off the 21-year-old's fingertips before hacking him to death with machetes.
Angel Gonzalez Angulo, 19, Christian Batista-Gonzalez, 23, Brian Villada-Hernandes, 19, Zozoro Boizo, 21, and Joseph Jimenez, 22, denied murder but were all convicted after 18 hours of jury deliberation.
asserted
Angulo → slice → deliberation
The court was told how Mr Bedoya was chased into an alleyway near Hillingdon Street and Langdale Close, where he was cornered and ambushed.
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he → tell → Street
Luiggi Perelli Santana, 22, was convicted of the murder of Gregory Catillo Volquez, 36
Carlos Akum Metumbe, of Spain, was also convicted of murder alongside Benito Ramirez Kones, 20
Gonzalez managed to flee the country entirely.
asserted
Gonzalez → convict → country
But after an international search, he was located and arrested near Barcelona on May 19, 2025, before being extradited to the UK to stand trial.
uncertain
he → locate → trial
The Spanish authorities said Gonzalez was wanted by the UK authorities because 'the fugitive and five other alleged members of the Trinitarios gang violently accosted another young man from a rival gang following a dispute'.
asserted
fugitive → say → dispute
Another murder victim, 36-year-old Gregory Catillo Volquez, suffered 22 stab wounds after being attacked on a street in north London on January 13 last year.
asserted
victim → suffer → January
Benito Ramirez Kones, 20, and 22-year-old Carlos Akum Metumbe, of Spain, were convicted of murder alongside Italian national Luiggi Perelli Santana, 22.
asserted
Kones → convict → Santana
They were sentenced to a total of 68 years in prison.
asserted
They → sentence → prison
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