Cruz Leandro Martinez Leiva/El Salvador/Robbery, Armed Carjacking

Cruz Leandro Martinez Leiva, a 25-year-old Salvadoran national, is a criminal alien and confirmed MS-13 gang member arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on August 20 during an enforcement operation in southeast Texas. He was taken into custody as part of a broader effort to remove violent gang-affiliated foreign nationals unlawfully present in the United States.

According to public reports, Martinez Leiva was convicted of robbery and armed carjacking in October 2018, serious violent felonies that involved the use or threat of force against victims. These convictions placed him in a high-priority category for immigration enforcement, given both the nature of the offenses and his documented association with the transnational MS-13 gang.

Officials have cited his case as an example of targeting gang members with significant criminal histories for arrest and removal in order to reduce violent crime risks in local communities.