Overview
- Homeland Security Investigations agents, with ATF support, arrested an unnamed Salvadoran national on July 9 who was listed among El Salvador’s Top 100 Most Wanted for multiple homicides and terrorist affiliation.
- Rene Saul Escobar Ochoa was taken into custody on charges of ordering homicides, extortion, imprisonment and drug trafficking for MS-13.
- Both suspects were living in the United States illegally and were arrested without incident during a targeted enforcement action.
- January’s designation of MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization provided enhanced legal tools that enabled rapid extradition, prosecution and removal efforts.
- The operation was carried out through coordinated efforts by ICE HSI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and international law enforcement partners.