logo
Charges dropped for man arrested in Virginia, accused of being top MS-13 gang leader

Charges dropped for man arrested in Virginia, accused of being top MS-13 gang leader

Yahoo10-04-2025

The Brief
The charges against a man accused of being a top MS-13 gang leader have been dropped.
Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, was arrested in northern Virginia on Thursday, March 27.
He was taken into custody on an outstanding administrative immigration warrant and was later charged with illegal gun possession.
The DOJ filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice on Wednesday.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Department of Justice on Wednesday moved to drop the charges against a man arrested in Virginia who they alleged was a top MS-13 gang leader.
The backstory
Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, was arrested in northern Virginia on Thursday, March 27.
A joint task force made up of FBI agents, Prince William County Police, ATF, ICE, and the Virginia State Police made the arrest. They said Santos was 'hiding' in the garage bedroom of his mother's Dale City home and that agents deployed a stun grenade to force him out.
Santos was taken into custody on an outstanding administrative immigration warrant and was later charged with illegal gun possession after several firearms were discovered during a search of the premises.
Information released by federal authorities stated that Santos had been in the United States for more than a decade, crossing the border illegally at age 14 to go live with his mom in Manassas. Court records said he had been under surveillance for allegedly directing gang activity.
Motion to dismiss
Santos was granted a dismissal without prejudice. That means the prosecution could potentially refile the same charges later — essentially suspending the case but not closing it.
Click to open this PDF in a new window.
What they're saying
At the time of the arrest, the Trump administration touted the operation as a significant step toward fulfilling its campaign promises to curb illegal immigration and dismantle gangs.
"Despite the tremendous success of this task force, I want the public to know that this is just the beginning of our efforts. We have a sense of urgency about this, and we do not plan on stopping until everyone of these violent gang members is off the streets," Erik Siebert, interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said at the time. "To the criminals I just have to say, we're coming."
FOX 5 asked his office for comment on Wednesday but they "respectfully" declined.
Dig deeper
Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated MS-13 — also known as Mara Salvatrucha — as a foreign terrorist organization, joining seven other Latin American criminal groups in that classification.
Mara Salvatrucha 13, or MS-13, is a transnational gang that originated in Los Angeles, and has since gained a grip on much of Central America. The American government blames violence generated by the group as a driver of migration to the U.S.
MS-13 was formed by Salvadoran immigrants that came to the United States in order to escape the civil war in their home country, according to the Justice Department. Some of its members were trained in guerilla warfare and the use of military weapons.
The gang is "well-organized and is heavily involved in lucrative illegal enterprises, being notorious for its use of violence to achieve its objectives," the Justice Department says.
Investigators say MS-13 is involved in trafficking stolen vehicles from the U.S. to Central America, and they're also known for human smuggling, weapons smuggling and illegal gun sales.
The Source
This report includes information from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, FOX 5 DC, Fox News, the Department of Justice and The Associated Press.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

DOJ slams Newsom's 'crass political stunt' over Trump's call-up of National Guard amid LA anti-ICE riots
DOJ slams Newsom's 'crass political stunt' over Trump's call-up of National Guard amid LA anti-ICE riots

Fox News

timean hour ago

  • Fox News

DOJ slams Newsom's 'crass political stunt' over Trump's call-up of National Guard amid LA anti-ICE riots

The Department of Justice (DOJ) argues the courts should deny California's request for a restraining order against the Trump administration over its decision to activate National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles after violent riots broke out over the weekend amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city. Democratic leaders in California claim President Donald Trump abused his authority by invoking a provision of Title 10 that allows the president to mobilize the National Guard if an invasion or rebellion is underway. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday that Trump caused the bulk of the rioting because he unnecessarily deployed the military to protect ICE personnel and federal buildings. Newsom also claimed local and state police had the situation under control when Trump spurred chaos by issuing his National Guard proclamation. Weighing in on the matter a day ahead of a scheduled hearing, the DOJ made its case that Trump had the authority to call on the National Guard's response. "In a crass political stunt endangering American lives, the Governor of California seeks to use this Court to stop the President of the United States from exercising his lawful statutory and constitutional power to ensure that federal personnel and facilities are protected," the DOJ said. "But, under the Constitution, the President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and the President is responsible for ensuring the protection of federal personnel and federal facilities." Since Friday, violent rioters who object to ICE's enforcement of immigration laws have targeted and damaged federal buildings, injured federal personnel and impeded federal functions, the DOJ said. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and other state and local law enforcement officials have been unable to bring order to Los Angeles, the DOJ claimed. The agency also pointed to a comment made by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who said during a news conference that "things have gotten out of control" and warned that "somebody could easily be killed." "Evaluating the unrest and threats to the enforcement of federal law that local and state authorities were unable or unwilling to control, the President responded by using the authority vested in him by statute and the Constitution to federalize and deploy the California National Guard to protect federal personnel and property, quell the mobs, and restore order," the DOJ wrote. "When the situation escalated further, the Secretary of Defense deployed a group of U.S. Marines to further assist. "The President has every right under the Constitution and by statute to call forth the National Guard and Marines to quell lawless violence directed against enforcement of federal law," the DOJ continued. "Yet instead of working to bring order to Los Angeles, California and its Governor filed a lawsuit in San Francisco seeking a court order limiting the federal government's ability to protect its property and officials." The DOJ said California's request would "countermand" the president's military directives, which would be "unprecedented." "On the merits, Plaintiffs' claims are baseless," the DOJ said. Newsom also claimed Trump never consulted with him before activating the National Guard, though the statute does not have such a requirement, the DOJ said. "It merely directs, as a procedural matter, that the President's orders be conveyed "through" the Governor," the DOJ wrote. "They were." Historically, courts did not interfere when former President Dwight Eisenhower deployed the military to protect school desegregation, nor did they interfere when former President Richard Nixon deployed the military to deliver the mail during a postal strike. Ultimately, the DOJ recommended the court deny California and Newsom's motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction. Newsom's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Karoline Leavitt gets fiery as she's pressed on Trump's military response to Los Angeles protests
Karoline Leavitt gets fiery as she's pressed on Trump's military response to Los Angeles protests

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Karoline Leavitt gets fiery as she's pressed on Trump's military response to Los Angeles protests

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt got into a heated back and forth with reporters on Wednesday as she held her first briefing since President Donald Trump' federalized the National Guard in California and sent active-duty Marines to join them in cracking down on protests and unrest over immigration roundups in Los Angeles. Leavitt condemned the protests as 'shameful,' citing what she described as 'left-wing radicals waving foreign flags' who she accused of 'viciously attacking' Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents as well as Los Angeles Police Department officers as part of an assault on 'American culture and society itself.' Leavitt also condemned Democratic elected officials in the Golden State, specifically Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, accusing them of having 'shamefully failed to meet their sworn obligations to their citizens' by not ordering a forceful military response to protesters. She also lauded Trump for ordering the 'mob' of protesters to be 'stamped out.' 'The criminals responsible will be swiftly brought to justice, and the Trump administration's operations to arrest illegal aliens are continuing unabated,' Leavitt said. She added that Newsom and Bass had sided 'with illegal alien criminals in their communities and violent rioters and looters over law enforcement officers who are just doing their jobs.' But Leavitt's pugnacious attacks on California leaders did not satisfy reporters, who repeatedly asked her about the extent to which the military service members who've been deployed in Los Angeles are authorized to aid in immigration law enforcement, nor did she fully explain how Trump's threats to use 'very big force' against protesters at his planned military parade in D.C. this weekend comport with America's constitutional guarantees of free speech. She also aggressively denied that the immigration crackdown that precipitated the protests and violence over the weekend had been ordered up in an effort to change the national conversation from Trump's messy split with billionaire Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX boss who wrapped up a stint as an unpaid adviser to the administration late last month. Asked about the possibility that Trump's crackdown was meant as a distraction to their social media war, Leavitt replied: 'That's an incredibly disingenuous attack.' She said Trump had been moved by 'images of border patrol and ICE agents being hailed with rocks and Molotov cocktails' and 'vehicles being burned to the ground with illegal aliens flying foreign flags.' Leavitt's press briefing came less than a day after Trump threatened to forcibly put down any protests that spoil the military parade he has ordered up for his birthdayon Saturday to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army's founding during the American Revolutionary War. During a media availability in the Oval Office on Tuesday, the president warned that any protests of the parade would be 'met with very big force' on Saturday. He reiterated the explicit threat a moment later, telling 'those people who want to protest' that they would be 'met with very big force' once more. He also opined further that any protest against the parade on Saturday would consist only of 'people who hate our country.' The president has a long history of pushing for the use of state violence against protests, which he considers to be a personal affront and a reflection of weakness on his part. During protests for racial justice in Washington following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer, he reportedly pushed to have military and law enforcement open fire on other protesters, asking then his then-Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Mark Milley, why National Guard troops deployed as a result of the demonstrations could not shoot protesters in the legs. But Leavitt denied that Trump has any intention of attacking protests against his parade or his policies this weekend. Seemingly ignorant of the president's history of urging violence against demonstrations, Leavitt claimed the president 'supports the right of Americans to peacefully protest' and 'supports the First Amendment' while suggesting that the protests in Los Angeles have consisted entirely of 'mobs of violent rioters and agitators assaulting law enforcement officers, assaulting our federal immigration authorities.' 'Thankfully, the President took action and stepped in to protect our federal law enforcement agents, to perfect protect federal buildings, to protect the federal mission of deporting illegal criminals off of our streets, and that mission will continue every day, as far as we're concerned,' she said.

American woman dies after Bushmills road traffic collision
American woman dies after Bushmills road traffic collision

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

American woman dies after Bushmills road traffic collision

A pedestrian has died following a one vehicle road traffic collision in Bushmills, County Antrim, on Wednesday. Police received a report of the collision on the Causeway Road shortly before 12:30 BST. Allison Eichner, an American citizen from Connecticut in her 40s, was taken to hospital but died from her injuries. One person was arrested, and remains in custody, assisting with enquiries. Detectives are conducting enquiries to establish the circumstances of the collision and have asked for anyone with information to come forward.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store