A Peruvian gang leader accused of nearly two dozen murders in his home country has been apprehended by federal immigration officers in New York. Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, the 38-year-old leader of the “Los Killers” gang, is wanted in Peru for his involvement in 23 killings, including rival gang leaders and a retired police officer. He was arrested on August 14th in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles northwest of New York City, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Torres-Navarro is currently being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo pending an immigration hearing.
According to ICE, Torres-Navarro illegally crossed the Texas-Mexico border on May 16th. He was initially apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol near Roma, Texas on the same day but was released into the United States with a notice to appear for his immigration proceedings. It wasn’t until July 8th that immigration enforcement discovered his wanted status in Peru and took steps to arrest him.
In addition to Torres-Navarro’s arrest, authorities also apprehended his girlfriend Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortíz Ubillús who is described as the gang leader’s right hand. Ortíz Ubillús gained attention on social media platform TikTok due to her extravagant lifestyle and has a sizable following.
Peruvian media reports indicate that Torres-Navarro fled Peru after allegedly committing multiple murders including those of a retired police officer and a municipal employee at a restaurant in San Miguel back in March. An international warrant was issued for him by Peruvian authorities in July.
Franco Moreno, head of Peru’s High Complexity Crime Investigations Division stated that they were able to track phone calls, geolocations, and messages from Torres-Navarro and his gang members consisting of at least ten individuals.
ICE Buffalo Field Office Director Thomas Brophy emphasized that Gianfranco Torres-Navarro poses a significant threat to communities and stated that they will not allow New York to be a safe haven for dangerous noncitizens.
ICE targets and arrests illegal immigrants suspected of crimes either within or outside of the United States with the intention of processing them for removal from the country.
In fiscal year 2023 alone, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division arrested close to 74k individuals who were illegally present within US borders with criminal histories; this included approximately 4.4k people charged or convicted with sex-related offenses or sexual assault charges according to agency records.
