ICE Washington, DC arrests criminal illegal alien gang leader in Maryland

HYATTSVILLE, Md. - On Sept. 11, ICE arrested a 29-year-old criminal illegal alien from El Salvador who is a high-ranking leader of the notorious MS-13 transnational criminal gang. Officers from ICE Washington, D.C. headquarters arrested Franklin Ariel Espinal-Cabrera in Hyattsville. Espinal-Cabrera is on the Department of Justice's Terror Watchlist and has a criminal history which includes illegal entry and a charge for unlawful possession of a weapon.

The American people gave President Trump a decisive mandate to make America safe again. This arrest is in keeping with President Trump and Secretary Mullin's commitment to detaining and deporting criminal illegal aliens, including removing those on the Terror Watchlist who pose the greatest threat to our nation's security.

On his first day back in office, President Trump designated key drug cartels and transnational criminal groups, such as the Cártel de Sinaloa, CJNG, and MS-13, and Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist groups that seek to undermine U.S. national security and threaten the American Homeland.

"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. He checks all the boxes; he is an illegal alien, a high-ranking leader in a transnational criminal organization, and he has a criminal history that includes illegal entry into the United States and unlawfully carrying a weapon. Furthermore, he is on the Justice Department's Terror Watchlist. His mere presence in our country constitutes a direct threat to the members of our American communities."

U.S. Border Patrol encountered 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 is currently the First Word Leader for the Coronado Locos Salvatruchos Clique of MS-13 and known by the moniker "Inconforme." Espinal-Cabrera was nominated to the U.S. Department of Justice's Terrorist Watchlist and was issued a terrorist screening number.

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