ICE arrests 131 suspected gang members in one week, DHS says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 131 suspected gang members between Oct. 4 and 10, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital. The arrests included 22 individuals affiliated with MS-13 and 13 with Tren de Aragua. All were reported to be in the country illegally.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement that ICE agents arrested more than 100 gang members in less than a week. Mullin credited President Donald Trump’s leadership for enabling ICE to target gangs and cartels. "Arresting and deporting illegal aliens, especially gang members, is how we make America safe again," Mullin said.

The Department reported that ICE has made 12,018 gang-related arrests since Trump took office in 2025. Officials described the current efforts as part of a broader strategy to remove criminal elements from the country.

Among those arrested was Gustavo Adolfo Flores-Ramirez, a Salvadoran national identified by DHS as an MS-13 member. He was taken into custody in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Flores-Ramirez is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide, aggravated femicide, rape of a minor or incapacitated person, illegal handling of firearms, illicit grouping, and crimes involving public peace.

Records show Flores-Ramirez was first arrested in the U.S. in September 2021 and subsequently deported to Mexico. He later re-entered the country illegally, an act considered a felony. DHS did not specify when his second illegal entry occurred.

In Florida, ICE arrested Jose Luis Perez-Arrias, a Venezuelan national and Tren de Aragua member, in Tallahassee on Wednesday. DHS described Perez-Arrias as a suspected hitman for the organization. He entered the country illegally in October 2023 during former President Joe Biden’s administration. Border Patrol agents initially arrested him but released him into the community.

Emerson Jossiel Calderon-Hernandez, another Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 member, was arrested in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Calderon-Hernandez entered the U.S. illegally in August 2012 while Barack Obama was president and was released into the country at that time. He faces charges including second-degree assault, attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and false imprisonment.

DHS also reported the arrest of an unnamed 14-year-old Venezuelan national in Denver on Tuesday. The minor is associated with Los Piratas Gang, a faction of Tren de Aragua. At the time of arrest, he was illegally carrying a Glock 48 pistol. Prosecutors accuse him of attempting to kill someone with extreme indifference, assaulting another person with similar disregard for safety, kidnapping an individual, extorting money through threats, firing a weapon unlawfully, and conspiring to commit these acts.