“El Crook”, head of the Mara Salvatrucha, wanted in the US for terrorism, falls in Mexico

An important member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) was arrested in Mexico, as part of an extradition request to the United States where he is accused of four terrorism crimes.

Is about Elmer Canales Riveraalias “The Crook”identified as one of the historical leaders of MS-13, and who had already been arrested in June 2021, for which he was serving a sentence in a maximum security prison in El Salvador, but was irregularly released months later , despite the extradition request and a red Interpol file against him.

The 45-year-old criminal leader is wanted by the US government for crimes such as conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism that transcend national borders, conspiracy to finance terrorism and narcoterrorism conspiracy.

According to Salvadoran media, “El Crook” lived in a luxurious apartment in one of the most exclusive areas of San Salvador, until He had to hide and flee, first to Guatemala and then to Mexico.

Unofficially, information was leaked that, for several years, Elmer Canales had been receiving protectionboth from the government of his country and from the Mexican one to avoid being captured.

Through a publication on networks, the Salvadoran news website El Faro revealed an audio linking the gang leader with soccer businessman Carlos Marroquín. In the recording, Marroquín confessed that he helped the criminal reach Guatemala and later flee to Mexico, as an act of loyalty to the criminal group.

According to information from the FBI, Even while in a Salvadoran prison, “El Crook” coordinated groups of MS-13 gang members that operate in several cities such as New York and Virginia.

Who is “The Crook”

Regarding this criminal, the newspaper El País points out that He is one of the so-called “twelve apostles of the devil”as the founding and highest-ranking members of the Ranfla or “Board of Directors” of the MS-13 are known.

In 2002, Canales Rivera joined other gang leaders who were imprisoned to create a structure that would command and supervise the cells of the criminal organization and take control of the prisons where the gang members were spread.

All important decisions go through Ranfla: from establishing punishments for snitches and collecting extortions from the civilian population, to signing pacts with high-level politicians and drug cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartelhe Jalisco New Generation Cartelhe Gulf Cartel and The Zetas.

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