Mexico City Police have confirmed the arrest of one of the leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), for whom the United States had issued an arrest warrant.
On Tuesday, agents arrested a man “of Salvadoran nationality (who) was wanted for homicide, aggravated robbery, carrying a weapon of war, use of false documentation, among others,” according to a statement.
The arrested man was later identified as José Wilfredo, alias the Hollywood Indian, one of the MS-13 leaders hiding in the Mexican capital under a false identity.
According to the Salvadoran newspaper El Mundo, Wilfredo is the number two of the Mara Salvatrucha and had entered Mexico illegally after being accused in Texas of directing MS-13 activities in the United States, Mexico, and El Salvador.
The US FBI had requested information on his whereabouts, and it was one of these leads that led to the investigation that finally resulted in his arrest, according to the police.
“The investigation began by following up on a citizen’s report referring to a foreign individual, possibly a member of a criminal group operating in Central America, who was in the country illegally and had an arrest warrant issued by Houston County, Texas,” reads the letter.
“Through fixed and mobile surveillance, the location of a property was obtained, where this person was possibly sheltering, located in the Buenavista neighborhood of the Cuauhtémoc district,” they detailed, adding that the detainee has already been placed at the disposal of the National Institute of Migration to manage his deportation.
With information from LGI