Federal authorities nabbed an alleged international gang leader June 9 at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the United States Attorney’s Office said in a press release Tuesday.
Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios is suspected of being a main leader of La Mara Salvatrucha’s (MS-13) criminal activities in the US and Central America, according to the press release. He had been on the run from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) for over three years, according to authorities.
Lopez-Larios, also known as “Grenas de Stoners” and “Oso de Stoners,” was a founding member of MS-13’s Twelve Apostles of the Devil before becoming a member of the Ranfla Nacional, the US Attorney’s Office said. (RELATED: FBI Nabs Alleged MS-13 Senior Leader On Most Wanted List In Border City)
MS-13 gang leader Cesar Lopez-Larios arrested at Bush Airport in Houston https://t.co/QRlBRZisCL
— John Sullivan (@ZFTWARNING) June 13, 2024
“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,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said.
Authorities allege that Ranfla Nacional directed the criminal activities of MS-13 across the globe, including in the U.S. and Mexico, with the goal of funding the gang’s terrorist operations in El Salvador through proceeds from drug trafficking and extortion.
“Now that Mr. Lopez-Larios is behind bars, he’s no longer in his alleged position of power directing a reign of terror, nor enriching MS-13 and their cartel associates,” FBI Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge Krysti Hawkins said.
A federal court in Houston ordered the transfer of Lopez-Larios to the Eastern District of New York to face charges including conspiracy to support and finance terrorism and narco-terrorism, the US Attorney’s Office stated.
“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,” Peace said.
Specific charges against Lopez-Larios 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, according to the press release.
The US Attorney’s Office said that Lopez-Larios could spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted.
