by WorldTribune Staff, June 14, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, a top leader of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), was arrested by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on June 9 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
Cesar Humberto Lopez-LariosAlso known as “Grenas de Stoners” and “Oso de Stoners,” Lopez-Larios was ordered to be transferred to the Eastern District of New York on charges including conspiracy to support and finance terrorism and narco-terrorism.
Lopez-Larios and 13 other high-ranking MS-13 leaders are charged with directing the gang’s violent activities, including acts of violence and murder, drug trafficking, and extortion. They are also accused of forming alliances with Mexican drug cartels and engaging in human trafficking.
Court records state that Lopez-Larios was an original member of MS-13's Twelve Apostles of the Devil and later became a member of the Ranfla Nacional.
Lopez-Larios is accused of helping to lead MS-13’s criminal operations across the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, and elsewhere. His charges include conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism, and narco-terrorism conspiracy.
It's alleged Ranfla Nacional oversaw the global expansion of MS-13, including operations in the United States and Mexico. Lopez-Larios and others were sent to establish networks for acquiring narcotics and firearms from Mexican cartels such as the Zetas, Gulf Cartel, CJNG, and Sinaloa Cartel. The group directed MS-13 members in the United States to conduct criminal enterprises, including drug trafficking and extortion, to fund the gang's terrorist operations in El Salvador and beyond.
“The arrest of Lopez-Larios, who is one of the most senior leaders of MS-13 in the world, is a significant achievement for law enforcement and another crucial step in the dismantling of this international criminal enterprise,” stated U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “The defendant will soon face a reckoning in a federal courtroom on Long Island where acting on his orders, MS-13 has spilled so much blood and turned communities into war zones.”
Founding member of MS-13’s ‘Twelve Apostles of the Devil’ arrested at Houston airport added by Editor Two on June 14, 2024
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