Alleged Gang Leader Fugitive Taken Into Custody

(USNewsBreak.com) – La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang with origins that date back to 1980s Los Angeles. Since then, it has grown exponentially, spanning several continents. Gang members in this group are known for being exceedingly violent. One alleged senior leader, a fugitive from justice, was recently captured in Texas.

On Sunday, June 9, the US Department of Homeland Security and FBI took Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios into custody at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. He had allegedly been running from the FBI for more than three years. According to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, he is being transported to New York, where he, along with 13 other high-ranking members of MS-13, is facing a multitude of terrorism charges.

Leader of MS-13 gang, known as part of 'Twelve Apostles of the Devil,' arrested on terror charges in Texas https://t.co/2pHX0giOYm pic.twitter.com/duJoLHPbzS

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) June 13, 2024

According to the DOJ, Lopez-Larios and the other 12 members in custody are part of the gang’s “command and control structure,” which includes the Ranfla en Las Calles, Ranfla en Los Penales, and Ranfla Nacional. They are accused of directing acts of violence and establishing a control command that could be run even if they were in prison. Their activities allegedly included establishing training camps and trafficking military-style weapons to carry out their attacks. Law enforcement says the gang routinely displayed public acts of violence to instill fear in civilian populations in El Salvador and abroad.

Lopez-Larios is allegedly known as one of the gang’s original “Twelve Apostles of the Devil,” a reference to founding members and leaders. He has been charged with conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists, narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and conspiracy to finance terrorism.

Federal authorities continue to seek more prominent alleged leaders of the MS-13 gang, including Jorge Alexander De La Cruz and Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, who remain at large.