MS-13 Gang Leader On Terrorist Watchlist Arrested In Hyattsville By ICE

HYATTSVILLE, MD — An undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who also happens to be a high-ranking leader of the MS-13 gang has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE announced this week that Franklin Ariel Espinal-Cabrera was arrested Sept. 11. He also has been on the U.S. Department of Justice's terrorist watchlist.

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Espinal-Cabrera currently is the First Word Leader for the Coronado Locos Salvatruchos Clique of MS-13 and known by the moniker "Inconforme," according to ICE.

"This is exactly the kind of arrest that the men and women of ICE envision when we target the worst of the worst," said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Robert Guadian. "Franklin Ariel Espinal-Cabrera has absolutely no reason to be on the streets of our American communities."

U.S. Border Patrol first came across Espinal-Cabrera after he illegally entered the United States as an unaccompanied child July 4, 2014, near Rio Grande City, Texas.

ICE Houston arrested Espinal-Cabrera on March 17, 2017, after he was charged in Harris County, Texas, for unlawfully carrying a weapon. On Nov. 17, 2017, Espinal-Cabrera was released from ICE custody on a $2,000 bond.

On Aug. 22, 2018, officers executing a federal arrest warrant in Houston, Texas, against an MS-13 gang member charged with homicide encountered Espinal-Cabrera at the target location. Espinal-Cabrera admitted to officers that he was a member of MS-13.

On Sept. 27, 2018, Espinal-Cabrera was charged in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas with illegally entering the United States. He was convicted Dec. 18, 2018, and sentenced to time served.

On Dec. 16, 2024, a Department of Justice immigration judge ordered Espinal-Cabrera removed from the United States to El Salvador.

Espinal-Cabrera will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States.