Last Saturday, March 8, the Service of sheriffs of the USAthe agency that is responsible for enforcing federal laws, supporting the judicial system and capturing fugitives, announced that, during the afternoon of Friday, March 7, they captured a high -ranking member of the gang MS-13 In Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The MS-13, also known as the Mara Salvatruchais perhaps the best known street gang in the western hemisphere, taking into consideration that they are already considered a terrorist organization International criminals, whose activities include violation, drug trafficking, extortion, smuggling of weapons, kidnapping and robbery.
The US authorities revealed that they had arrested a high-ranking member of the MS-13 gang that is located on the island of Long Island, New Yorkknown as Josué Zepeda Padillawho had various arrest orders in the US group assault in first degree and kidnapping in the second degree.
According to Catrina Thompson, federal sheriff of the Middle District of North Carolina, the agents of the county of SuffolkNew York were in charge of tracking it to the city of Winston-Salem, where the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) managed to capture Josué Zapata Padilla on Gilmer Avenue.
High rank capture of the MS-13
Subsequently, the federal sheriff, Catrina Thompson, mentioned that the customs immigration and control service had been involved in the capture of Zapata Padilla because the high-ranking member of the MS-13 gang was in the United States in the United States illegally And previously it had already been deportee For ICE.
For its part, the Winston-Salem Police Department, North Carolina, indicated through a press release that, when arriving at Gilmer Avenue, Josué Zapata Padilla “refused to fulfill the orders of local authorities” and tried escape by him penthouse of the house in which he was staying at that time.
Read more: PNC reveals how extortion coordinates in Guatemala from prisons
“It is not yet clear why Josué Zapata Padilla was in the city of Winston-Salem, but his attempt to escape failed when the gang member fell through the ceiling From a house that was connected, where an American family was, including children, “added Sheriff Catrina Thompson, during an interview.
As stated by the American television network that transmits in Spanish, Telemundothe police authorities of the North Carolina “literally flew the door of the house” to be able to enter the house in which the gang leader was, before he tried that to play from the top of the place.
“The United States Sheriff Service is committed to locating and detaining violent fugitives Throughout our country, ”said Thompson, who was also the Chief of Police at Winston-Salem, taking into account that the Regional Fugitive Working Group has arrested more than 8,900 criminals since its creation in 2018.
Vincent Demarco, federal sheriff of the New York district, stressed the importance of detention by mentioning that “this arrest is a fundamental victory In our continuous effort to bring violent fugitives to justice “, since the authorities continue to investigate the Zepeda connection with other activities criminals.