A Peruvian gang leader suspected of being involved in about 20 murders in the country was arrested by U.S. immigration authorities in New York on Wednesday.
Gianfranco Torres Navarro, the leader of Los Killers, wanted on 23 murder charges in his home country, was arrested in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northwest of New York City, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday.
He is being held in a federal detention center near Buffalo while awaiting an immigration hearing, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Torres Navarro, 38, entered the United States illegally at the Texas-Mexico border on May 16.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the suspect was arrested the same day and notified to appear for immigration processing.
The agency, known as ICE, said it moved to arrest Torres Navarro on July 8 after receiving a tip that he was wanted in Peru.
“Gianfranco Torres Navarro is a serious threat to our community, and we will not allow New York to become a haven for dangerous aliens,” said Thomas Brophy, Director of Deportation Enforcement for ICE’s Buffalo Field Office.
Immigration agents also arrested Torres-Navarro’s girlfriend, Michelle Sol Ivanna Ortiz Ubillas, whom Peruvian authorities described as his right-hand woman. She is being held in a processing center in Pennsylvania, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s online detainer search system.
Peruvian judicial authorities confirmed to The Associated Press that they had located Torres Navarro and his partner Ortiz Ubilus on July 3 and ordered their international arrest.
Peruvian authorities say Torres Navarro is the leader of a crime gang known as Los Killas de Ventanilla y Callao, which has used violence to thwart rivals trying to gain access to its main business of extorting construction companies.
Torres-Navarro is believed to have fled Peru after the murder of retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera at a restaurant in San Miguel in March, Peruvian media said.
Six leading members of Los Killers, a group formed in 2022 in the Pacific coastal region where Peru’s main port is located, were arrested in a series of raids in June and charged with murder, contract murder and extortion, Peruvian National Police said.
According to the Peruvian prosecutor’s office, Torres Navarro was previously a member of the criminal gang Los Malditos de Angamos.
He is also known as “Gianfranco 23” after the number of people he is believed to have killed.
Peruvian authorities say his girlfriend, Ortiz Ubilas, plays a key role in “Los Killers.”
The prosecutor’s office described her as Torres Navarro’s girlfriend, a police lieutenant and a teller.
She also has a sizable following on the social media platform TikTok, where she shows off her lavish lifestyle, which includes designer clothes, vacations at resorts and shooting at shooting ranges.
Associated Press writers Carolyn Thompson and Phil Marcello contributed to this report.
