A high-ranking member of the violent MS-13 gang who was listed among El Salvador’s top 100 most wanted fugitives has been captured by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations arrested the MS-13 kingpin on July 9, along with an MS-13 associate he was living with, and who was also in the United States illegally.
One fugitive is wanted for multiple murders; the other triggered an INTERPOL Red Notice. They were hiding in the Omaha area, where they posed severe threats to the local community’s safety, according to ICE officials.
“Typically, when MS-13 involves themselves in a community they start committing crimes like drug trafficking, human trafficking, intellection property rights, and just general racketeering and violent crimes, so it is a big negative on the community,” U.S. Assistant Special Agent of Homeland Investigations Elhrick Cerdan told WOWT First Alert 6.
HSI Omaha apprehended the two senior MS-13 gang leaders during a targeted operation. They are wanted in El Salvador for violent crimes including murder, drug trafficking and gang conspiracy, ICE officials said in a news release.
“These illegal aliens didn’t just sneak into our country; they brought with them a legacy of violence, terror and death,” said HSI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito, whose office oversees Omaha. “They thought they could hide in America’s heartland, but they were sadly mistaken. Not on our watch.”
Agents tracked down the man who appears on El Salvador’s 100 Most Wanted Fugitives list in neighboring in Council Bluffs, Iowa. U.S. authorities previously convicted him for illegally crossing the border, a federal crime, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
DHS officials have not released the “most wanted” man’s name but allege the Salvadoran national is accused of aggravated homicide of five victims; attempted aggravated homicide; deprivation of liberty; and terrorist organization affiliation.
“The Biden Administration allowed two ringleaders of MS-13, one of the most violent gangs in the world, straight into our country,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “These are the kinds of scum-bags sanctuary politicians are protecting and letting walk free on America’s streets.”
Federal officials told WOWT First Alert 6 that his identity was being withheld as he remains part of an ongoing investigation.
“It appears that he was here for several years, and he has been wanted by El Salvador for over a decade,” Agent Cerdan told First Alert 6.
ICE also arrested a man who was with him, 30-year-old Rene Saul Escobar Ochoa, whom ICE referred to as “an associate.” The criminal alien is also a known MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist who is accused of ordering his fellow gang members to commit several crimes, including multiple homicides, extortion, imprisonment and drug trafficking, ICE officials said.
U.S. Border Patrol first encountered him in 2023, and he was allowed to remain in the country. He faces an INTERPOL Red Notice from El Salvador for drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder, per DHS.
“Generally speaking, gang members will hide with other friends, other friends that have legal status and use that as a pathway to hide,” Agent Cerdan told First Alert 6.
HSI Omaha led the operation with support from state, federal and international law enforcement partners. The investigation is ongoing.
Both men were taken into custody “without incident” and remain in ICE custody for now. The agency has initiated removal proceedings and will continue coordinating with El Salvadoran authorities to send them back to face justice.
The arrests come about two weeks after Homeland Security first told WOWT First Alert 6 they were looking for a number of illegal immigrant gang members in the Omaha area. That warning happened shortly after a Venezuelan gang member was arrested in Bellevue.
Agent Cerdan also previously told First Alert 6 the operation was part of a multi-agency effort.
“The men and women of Homeland Security Investigations do not conduct immigration raids; we execute federal search warrants that are signed by federal judges and approved by the Department of Justice,” he said. “A raid is a military term, that is not something we do, we conduct targeted investigations into transnational criminal organizations.”
ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons said agents are executing federal search warrants and trying to locate dangerous criminals, so people need to back off and let them do their jobs.
“When ICE agents move in to make an arrest, it is extremely important that the public not interfere,” Lyons said in the ICE release. “The misinformation, and sometimes blatant lies, being spread around the country could result in someone stepping into a federal operation and suddenly finding themselves face-to-face with a killer who has nothing to lose.”
ICE agents and other federal law enforcement continue to face mounting aggression and backlash from protestors and the public. Assaults on ICE agents are up 700%, with coordinated attacks on ICE and Border Patrol facilities in Texas and ongoing riots in California.
Lyons concluded: “Our ICE officers and agents are protecting your neighborhoods, even when you don’t know the threat is there, so either support them or get out of the way.”
