MS-13 roundup before Don LI visit
The Salvadoran government busted 113 suspected MS-13 gang members Thursday — the eve of President Trump’s visit to Long Island to address the brutal gang’s chokehold there.
The announcement came amid US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ trip to El Salvador, which has been the gang’s base of operations since its formation in the 1980s.
“It speaks volumes that the attorney general has traveled to the nerve center of MS-13,” Deputy AG Robert Hur said during a White House press briefing Thursday.
The investigation is being handled by Salvadoran gang prosecutors trained by US agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Justice, which also aided in transporting key witnesses to the Central American nation for court proceedings, according to the DOJ.
Trump will address cops and lawmakers about MS-13 Friday at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, which is home to the county’s Police Academy.
It’s also the town where the bodies of Nisa Mickens, 15, and Kayla Cuevas, 16, were discovered last September after they were beaten and hacked to death by MS-13 members.
The teens’ parents are anxiously waiting to learn if they’ll be able to share their story directly with the president.
“We haven’t heard anything yet. We’re checking our e-mails,” Nisa’s dad, Robert Mickens, told The Post. “We would love the chance to meet the president. It would be an honor. It would be almost a slap in the face if he doesn’t offer a handshake or something.”
Cuevas’ mother, Evelyn Rodriguez, added, “We’re still waiting. I would really appreciate it.”
During his trip to Long Island, Trump will demand that Congress pass a package of bills cracking down on gangs — including funding 10,000 more ICE agents, measures to more quickly boot undocumented aliens, and penalties against so-called “sanctuary cities, an administration official said.
Gangbangers attacked Nisa and Kayla after several disputes between Kayla and MS-13 members played out on social media, according to court papers.
Their accused killers and 14 other suspected MS-13 members and asso- ciates — nearly half of them juveniles — are facing federal charges.
Suffolk County Police say MS-13 is responsible for 17 murders there since the start of 2016.
The gang’s grip on Long Island drew Trump’s attention last December, when he told Time magazine, “They’re killing and raping everybody out there. They’re illegal.”