Return of High-Profile MS-13 Leader To El Salvador Could Suggest Trump Administration Prioritizes Mass Deportations: Report

Just last weekend, the Trump administration began deporting hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador after reaching a compromise with president Nayib Bukele, who will house the alleged Tren de Aragua gang members inside the Terrorist Confinement Center, a maximum security prison originally built to house Mara Salvatrucha gang members.

In a video shared by Bukele's government, deportees can be seen being escorted from the aircraft in restraints, forced to kneel, and having their heads shaved by security officials. Among the more than 200 alleged gang members deported to El Salvador was César Humberto López Larios, also known as "Greñas," a veteran leader of the MS-13 street gang and one of the 14 members charged with terrorism during Trump's first administration.

Deporting López Larios to El Salvador meant the Justice Department was required to drop the terrorism-related charges against him, but a report from InSight Crime suggests the decision signals the Trump administration is prioritizing its mass deportation plans over prosecuting MS-13 gang members.

According to the outlet, prosecutors cited "geopolitical and national security concerns" as justifications to deport López Larios back to El Salvador.

This decision appears to contradict a strategy adopted by the U.S. government in recent years to crack down on the Mara Salvatrucha gang, which included the formation of a joint task force in 2019 specifically focused on disrupting and dismantling MS-13. And as InSight Crime suggests, the return of "El Greñas" suggests the Trump administration is now willing to sacrifice its investigations against the Salvadoran gang in order to facilitate mass deportations.

According to reports, there are six other MS-13 leaders in U.S. custody that Trump could use in the future as part of negotiations to send more deportees to El Salvador.

The return of López Larios

It is not the first time "El Greñas" is deported by the U.S. government and handed to Salvadoran officials.

The high-profile MS-13 boss was previously deported in 2017 as he was wanted in the Central American country for extorting Salvadorans from his base in California and for ordering the deaths of multiple police officers.

After just a short stint behind bars, López Larios escaped from prison and moved to Mexico, where he joined the gang's operations on Mexican soil in order to foster relationships with drug traffickers. He lived in Mexico until June 2024, when Mexican authorities arrested him in the state of Chiapas and transferred him to the U.S.

At the time of his arrest, he faced charges including conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism and narco-terrorism conspiracy. ​

Throughout his alleged involvement with MS-13, López-Larios has been identified as one of the original members of the "Twelve Apostles of the Devil," a group considered foundational to the establishment and expansion of MS-13's influence across the U.S. and Latin America.