Arizona Border Patrol Arrests MS-13 Gang Member With Prior Deportation

Border Patrol agents making their rounds in southern Arizona arrested a man from El Salvador who had previously been deported from the U.S. for his membership in the violent MS-13 gang and several felony convictions.

Tucson Sector agents of the Border Patrol arrested Ramon Rodriguez-Aparicio, 45, along with nine other people who gained entry into the U.S. illegally Monday. The agents patrolling near San Miguel, Arizona, in Pima County identified Rodriquez-Aparicio among the group and discovered through his background that he had an extensive criminal history in Southern California with the gang, MS-13.

Now held in federal custody, Rodriguez-Aparicio’s status in the country is currently pending criminal prosecution and potential re-entry charges for that of an aggravated felon. Authorities learned that he had previously been convicted and incarcerated for several felony crimes over the past decade. The Tucson Sector agents assigned to the Three Points sub station discovered him with six male and three female illegal alliens inside the U.S. border. The eight other illegal aliens being detained are being processed for immigration violations.

MS-13 has taken on a national presence after President Donald Trump and his administration declared the eradication of the street gang was a “priority” under Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department.

"MS-13 members brutally rape, rob, extort and murder," Sessions said during a speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Philadelphia in October. "With more than 40,000 members worldwide, including 10,000 in the United States, MS-13 threatens the lives and well-being of each and every family everywhere they infest."

The gang’s violence and recruitment has plagued parts of Long Island in New York for the past several years although MS-13’s roots are with Central American immigrants in the Los Angeles area. MS-13 has gained recruits among immigrants fleeing El Salvador’s civil war and has allowed the group to become one of the largest street gangs in the the country.