Crime

MS-13 Member Arrested in Montgomery County By Deportation Officers

By MCS Staff


An unnamed 30-year old Ms-13 gang member was arrested on Monday near his residence in Montgomery County. According to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore (a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), he was previously convicted of accessory to first-degree murder after the fact in Montgomery County in 2023. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but the court suspended all but 18 months.

Per U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:  Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore apprehended a Salvadoran noncitizen who was convicted in 2023 of accessory to first-degree murder after the fact in Montgomery County. Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested the 30-year-old MS-13 gang member Jan. 29 near his residence in Silver Spring.
“This unlawfully present Salvadoran gang member’s presence in the United States represents a threat to the safety and security of our residents,” said ERO Baltimore Field Office Director Darius Reeves. “Not only is he a validated member of a notorious criminal enterprise, but he also aided other criminals in the commission of a murder. ERO Baltimore will continue to apprehend and remove such criminal elements from our Maryland communities.”

U.S. Border Patrol encountered the Salvadoran national in October 2006 near Falfurrias, Texas, as an unaccompanied noncitizen and served him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge as a noncitizen present without admission or parole. Later that day, agents transferred him to the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s International Educational Services in Harlingen, TX.

In December 2006, the Office of Refugee Resettlement reunified him with his uncle in Washington, D.C. An immigration judge in Baltimore ordered him removed to El Salvador in February 2007. The Montgomery County Police Department arrested the gang member in January 2023 and charged him with the offense of accessory after the fact-murder first degree.

ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against the Salvadoran noncitizen in June 2023 with Montgomery County Circuit Court. The Circuit Court of Montgomery County in Rockville convicted him of accessory after the fact-murder first degree in September 2023 and sentenced him to five years of imprisonment. The court suspended all but 18 months of his sentence.

The Montgomery County Circuit Court ignored ERO Baltimore’s immigration detainer and released the Salvadoran gang member. Deportation officers with ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested him Jan. 29 near his residence in Silver Spring. He will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States.