Known Aliases: 3ni, Patria, Green Nation, El Nuevo Movimiento
Origin: George Motchan Detention Center (Rikers Island), New York City — 1989. Founded by Leonides 'Junito' Sierra and Julio Marine as a protective organization for Dominican inmates against established African American (UBN) and Puerto Rican (Latin Kings) inmate populations.
Active Regions: Primary AOR: New York City (Bronx, Washington Heights/Manhattan, Brooklyn), New Jersey (Paterson, Newark), Massachusetts (Lawrence, Boston), Rhode Island (Providence). Secondary AOR: Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Spain, Dominican Republic. Estimated global membership: 30,000+.
Known Alliances: Intermittent tactical alliances governed by local market conditions
Known Rivalries: United Blood Nation (UBN) — violent street-level and correctional competition. Latin Kings — historical and ongoing territorial disputes. DDP (Dominicans Don't Play) — internal Dominican demographic rivalry. MS-13 — localized conflicts in Northeastern suburban markets.
Primary Identifiers: Colors: Lime green (primary), blue, red, white (Dominican flag colors). Symbols: Machetes, three-pointed stars, Dominican Republic coat of arms. Numeric codes: 3, 7 (representing founding principles). Tattoos: 'Patria', '3ni', large Dominican flags, cross machetes, 'Trinitario', three dots. Apparel: Lime green bandanas, rosary beads (green/white/blue/red), New York Yankees/Mets gear. Weapons: Culturally and pragmatically associated with machete usage for enforcement. Hand signs: Three fingers extended (representing the Trinitario namesake: God, Homeland, and Liberty).
Executive Summary:
The Trinitarios represent a rapidly expanding, transnational criminal organization that originated within the New York City jail system in 1989. Initially established by Leonides 'Junito' Sierra to shield Dominican inmates from established gang hierarchies, the organization swiftly expanded from a correctional protection syndicate into an aggressive street-level enterprise. The gang derives its nomenclature from the three founding fathers of the Dominican Republic, utilizing the national motto 'Dios, Patria, Libertad' (God, Homeland, Liberty) to enforce violent ethnic solidarity.
The organizational hierarchy is compartmentalized into regional chapters governed by a 'Primera' (leader), supported by a 'Segunda,' 'Tercera,' 'Guerrero' (Warlord), and street soldiers. Primary illicit revenue streams encompass street-level and wholesale narcotics distribution (cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, cannabis), retaliatory violence, armed robbery, and localized extortion. Trinitarios are categorized as a high-threat vector due to their intense utilization of bladed weapons (machetes and large knives) in broad daylight enforcement actions—a modus operandi designed to instigate psychological terror. Large-scale federal gang takedowns have periodically disrupted regional command components, but rapid recruitment pipelines within Northeastern high schools sustain operational density.