Fugitive Senior MS-13 Gang Leader Apprehended at Border

A 48-year-old El Salvadoran national who was a senior leader of the notoriously violent MS-13 gang and among the FBI's most wanted fugitives was apprehended at the California-Mexico border earlier this month.

Freddy Ivan Jandres-Parada had been on the run for more than three years since he was indicted in the Eastern District of New York along with more than a dozen other leaders of MS-13 in December 2020 on terrorism offenses, according to federal court documents.

Jandres-Parada, also known as Lucky De Park View, was taken into custody March 7 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego County by the FBI, the Los Angeles Times reported. He is being held at the federal prison in San Diego, and his detention order, dated March 8, showed he waived his right to bail. The FBI had issued a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Court Watch reported the attorney for Jandres-Parades' initial court appearance in California said he no longer was his attorney. A new defense attorney was not identified. Jandres-Parada is being transferred to New York and will appear before a federal judge in the coming days.

In New York, Jandres-Parada faces charges of conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism, and narco-terrorism conspiracy, according to his indictment.

Jandres-Parada is not the only MS-13 leader who has been caught in recent months. In November, Elmer Canales-Rivera, also known as Crook de Hollywood, was arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, the Times reported.

Canales-Rivera was among the 13 defendants charged with Jandres-Parada. Two other defendants charged, César Humberto López-Larios and Hugo Armando Quinteros-Mineros, are still at large, the New York Post reported. The defendants are alleged to form MS-13's board of directors, once known as the "Twelve Apostles of the Devil" and now called "Ranfla Historica." The indictment said Ranfla Historica was the highest level of leadership in MS-13 and provided direction for the violent gang.

Ranfla Historica controlled the process for recruiting new members and advancement to higher ranks, according to the indictment, and authorized murders of rival gang members, law enforcement officers, military members, government officials, witnesses, and MS-13 members who cooperated with law enforcement, challenged leadership, or who disobeyed the rules.

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