Fugitive MS-13 leader arrested on terrorism charges in Texas

A high-ranking leader of the notorious MS-13 criminal gang responsible for “spilling so much blood” and turning communities in New York into “war zones” was arrested over the weekend in Texas after more than three years on the run from law enforcement, authorities said Tuesday.

Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios was arrested by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations on Sunday after he arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York said.

“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. 

Lopez-Larios, also known as “Grenas de Stoners” and “Oso de Stoners,” was 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.

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“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.

Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios pictured in 2020

On Monday, Lopez-Larios appeared in federal court in Houston, where he was ordered to be transferred to the custody of the Eastern District of New York where he and 13 other MS-13 leaders are charged with directing the transnational criminal organization’s criminal activities in the U.S., El Salvador, Mexico and elsewhere over the past two decades.  

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“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.

Lopez-Larios was ordered to be transferred to the custody of the Eastern District of New York. (Cheney Orr/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

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Lopez-Larios was expected to be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York.