HASTINGS, Fla. – A St. Johns County man who is accused of being one of 10 senior leaders of a violent Florida gang was arrested recently and faces several charges related to gang activity.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said Andrew Mariano, 23, of Flagler Estates was arrested following a several-year investigation by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) Gang Investigations Task Force.
Both sheriff’s offices searched Mariano’s home recently and found guns and drugs, which they said he was trafficking across Northeast Florida.
Investigators said he was one of the leaders of the Bloods-affiliated “Sex, Money, Murder” gang.
Two Gainesville men, 21 and 27, are also accused of being top members of the gang and were arrested as part of the investigation.
Over the past three years, detectives with BSO’s Gang Task Force said they have been investigating the “infamous” gang and discovered that two command-level members lived within Broward County.
The Gang Task Force said it was able to identify the gang’s statewide leadership and financial accounts tied to the organization. They also said they uncovered numerous contributing crimes, including the unlawful trafficking of firearms, trafficking of narcotics (cannabis, methamphetamine and fentanyl), fraud, planning or directing activities related to a criminal gang and conspiracy to commit homicide.
The alleged crimes took place across Florida.
Additionally, detectives said they discovered a kill list of the gang members’ intended victims and notified them before the crimes occurred.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney was intrigued by the discovery of an actual kill list and what investigators did to protect the people on the list.
“They release information that they actually contacted potential victims and saved their lives, and to have a real, true kill list from a group that has a history of being capable of committing murders and crime like this is pretty shocking,” Hackney said.
Arrest warrants were filed in March, and in April, a coordinated and sweeping statewide operation resulted in 10 arrests.
According to detectives, a series of residential search warrants were also simultaneously executed in Pembroke Pines, Lauderhill, and Hastings. This resulted in the recovery of additional firearms, trafficking amounts of narcotics, and gang paraphernalia. All the suspects were charged in Highlands County and are expected to be tried there as well.
The investigation into the Sex, Money, Murder, Blood gang is ongoing, BSO said.
SMM began inside a Bronx, New York, housing project during the summer of 1996. The gang eventually expanded along the East Coast down to Florida.
“This is unlike the gangs we’re used to talking about here in Jacksonville,” Hackney said. “This is outside of what is typically thought of here in Jacksonville with gangs. This has a connection with a blood gang. That’s a nationally recognized gang that has a very long history of violence and drugs.”
Anyone with information on this criminal organization or crimes committed by them is urged to contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS or online at browardcrimestoppers.org .