Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios has been arrested following an investigation involving Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York office, HSI International Operations, the National Gang Unit, and other law enforcement partners. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the arrest in a June 18 press release.
Lopez-Larios is a member of the MS-13 Twelve Apostles of the Devil and Ranfla Nacional leadership in El Salvador, the US, and Mexico. According to DHS, after more than three years as a fugitive, Lopez-Larios was arrested by HSI and the FBI early this month at George Bush International Airport in Houston. He is being charged with 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. Lopez-Larios and his co-defendants have significant leadership roles in the organization.
"Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios’ arrest represents yet another significant leader of MS-13 to be brought to justice this year. Despite his attempts to evade authorities, Lopez-Larios must now answer to criminal charges stemming from his alleged management of one of the most malicious transnational criminal organizations in existence today. Although Lopez-Larios, also known as Grenas de Stoners to his followers, is now in custody, we recognize there is more to be done. HSI New York, working with our law enforcement partners, will not cease in our efforts to hold MS-13 accountable for their unmitigated violence in communities across New York and elsewhere," said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo.
In 2002, according to HSI, Lopez-Larios and others in MS-13 leadership began creating "a highly organized, hierarchical command and control structure" to communicate and carry out their decisions and orders. In El Salvador, the US, and other places, they ordered murders, created training camps for MS-13 members, and obtained military weapons such as rifles, handguns, grenades, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and rocket launchers.
"The arrest of Lopez-Larios, who is one of the most senior leaders of MS-13 in the world," said Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. "Is a significant achievement for law enforcement and another crucial step in the dismantling of this international criminal enterprise. 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."
Homeland Security Investigations dates back to 2010 when the Offices of Investigations, Intelligence, and International Affairs within US Immigration and Customs Enforcement were reorganized after the September 11 attacks and the creation of DHS.
