#MS-13 gang member charged with murder of Long Island teen

An MS-13 gang member was extradited from El Salvador and arraigned Friday in Central Islip federal court on murder charges for the machete slaying of a 15-year-old boy on Long Island in 2016, authorities said.

Eduardo Portillo, 23, was busted in Morazan, El Salvador on Feb. 23, 2019 — more than 2 years after the murder — and extradited to the U.S. Friday morning.

Portillo pleaded not guilty to an 89-count indictment, and the judge ordered him held without bail. He and other gang members lured Javier Castillo to an isolated marsh area along the water in Cow Meadow Park, in Freeport, to smoke marijuana, officials said.

Once there, the group allegedly took turns hacking him to death with a machete then dug a hole and buried him. His body wasn’t recovered until October 2017. Castillo was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang, a rival of MS-13.

“I hope the extradition of the defendant and his prosecution in a U.S. court will bring some measure of closure to the family of the young victim,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme in a statement.

Portillo’s arrest came after he was indicted in May 2018 and authorities issued an INTERPOL Red Notice, informing international law enforcement to be on the lookout.

He’s charged — alongside 22 other defendants in the indictment — with racketeering offenses, murder and narcotics trafficking.

The vicious transnational gang is responsible for dozens of mutilated bodies, many of them young teens, left in shallow graves across Long Island.

President Trump has twice visited Long Island to address MS-13 gang violence and met privately with victims’ families.