Immigration

ICE Finds Peruvian Gang Leader Wanted For 23 Murders After Border Officials Allowed Him Into US

(Flickr/U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

Federal immigration authorities on Wednesday arrested a Peruvian gang leader who is wanted in his home country for nearly two dozen murders.

Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, a 38-year-old Peruvian national who entered the United States unlawfully earlier this year, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Wednesday in Endicott, New York, the agency confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The notorious gang leader has since been transported to the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York.

“Gianfranco Torres-Navarro poses a significant threat to our communities, and we won’t allow New York to be a safe haven for dangerous noncitizens,” ERO Buffalo Field Office Director Thomas P. Brophy said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “Well done by our ERO Buffalo officers who brought this individual into custody.”

Torres-Navarro was arrested by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials after illegally entering the U.S. near Roma, Texas, on May 16, according to ICE. CBP issued him a notice to appear for immigration proceedings, allowing him to enter the interior of the U.S.

Unbeknownst to federal immigration authorities at the time, the Peruvian national was the leader of the “Los Killers” criminal organization and on the run from law enforcement from his home country, according to The Associated Press.

Homeland Security Investigations notified Enforcement and Removal Operations of Torres-Navarro’s wanted status in Peru, ultimately leading to deportation officers nabbing him on Wednesday, according to ICE.

“He is a highly dangerous criminal who believed he was untouchable and responsible for 23 murders, including other gang leaders who ended up dead along with their families, all in order to increase his criminal leadership,” Col. Franco Moreno, chief of Peru’s High Complexity Crime Investigations Division, stated to The Associated Press.

Torres-Navarro allegedly fled his home country after the murder of retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera and the shooting of an employee in San Miguel, according to The Associated Press. Deportation officers also apprehended the gang leader’s girlfriend, Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortiz Ubillus, who is described as the gang leader’s right hand.

The discovery that a notorious gang leader made it past border officials and was able to live in the U.S. for several months has further highlighted the risks of the ongoing illegal immigration crisis.

Border Patrol agents have encountered more than 7 million illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border since President Joe Biden entered office, according to the latest CBP data. In that same time, Border Patrol agents have encountered more than 55,000 criminal illegal migrants or illegal migrants with warrants or outstanding warrants.

A House committee investigation released earlier this month reported that at least 99 individuals on the terror watchlist were released into the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration after illegally crossing the U.S. southern border.