ENDICOTT, N.Y. – Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on Wednesday captured a foreign gang leader who is accused of committing nearly two dozen homicides in his home country, according to reports.
Peruvian national Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, 38, entered the United States illegally near Roma, Texas, on May 16, federal authorities confirmed. Before officials knew of his background involving 23 murders, CBP issued him a notice to appear for immigration proceedings, which allowed unfettered entry into the interior of the country, reported The Western Journal.
On Wednesday, Torres-Navarro was taken into custody by CBP agents in Endicott, New York, the agency said, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Once he was arrested, the notorious gang leader was 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 non-citizens,” ICE-ERO Buffalo Field Office Director Thomas P. Brophy said in a statement provided to the news outlet. “Well done by our ERO Buffalo officers who brought this individual into custody.”
Federal immigration authorities were unaware that Torres-Navarro was the leader of the “Los Killers” criminal organization and fleeing from law enforcement officials in Peru when he entered the US, according to The Associated Press.
DHS investigators notified ICE-ERO of the Peruvian national’s wanted status, ultimately leading to federal agents arresting him on Wednesday, authorities said.
“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, said, according to The Associated Press.
One of the murder victim’s in Peru was Cesar Quegua, a retired police officer.
The discovery that an extremely violent gang leader who is accused of so many murder and made it past border officials in order to flee from the law in his home country and take up residence in the U.S. for several months has further highlighted the risks of the ongoing illegal immigration catasrophe.
Since President Joe Biden took office, Border Patrol agents have encountered more than 7 million illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the latest CBP data.
Among the large volume of people invading America, Border Patrol agents have encountered more than 55,000 criminal illegal migrants or illegal migrants with outstanding warrants, The Western Journal reported.
Furthermore, a House committee investigation disclosed in a report earlier this month 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.