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An MS-13 leader believed to have overseen a kill squad for the bloodthirsty gang — and who is linked to the killing of the son of the former president of Honduras — was arrested in Nebraska on Monday, the agency said.
Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, 33, aka “Fantasma,” was taken into custody in Grand Island, 150 miles west of Omaha, on immigration-related charges, the FBI said Tuesday.
Cuadra is believed to have overseen “El Combo,” an MS-13 kill squad designated to carry out assassinations on behalf of the gang. He has been charged in Honduras with four homicides, authorities said.
Authorities suspect he played a role in the July 2022 killing of Said Lobo Bonilla, the son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Bonilla and three other men were killed as they left a nightclub in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.
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Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, 33, aka “Fantasma,” was taken into custody in the Omaha area on immigration-related charges. Authorities said Soto is an MS-13 leader with close ties to other gang leaders. (Hall County Department of Corrections; Getty Images)
Cuadra fled Honduras following the quadruple murder. He and two co-defendants were released from jail after government officials were paid $125,000 in bribes, federal prosecutors said, according to an unsealed affidavit.
Authorities allege that Cuadra entered the United States in November by crossing from Mexico into Texas and later obtained a California driver’s license.
Honduran authorities identified Cuadra as a close associate of Yulan Archaga Carias, known as “Porky,” who is listed on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives list. Carias is believed to be MS-13’s leader in Honduras and a voting member of the gang’s leadership group, “La Mesa.”
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The violent street gang MS-13 has made its presence felt in small towns and suburbs. (Fox News)
He is charged by the Justice Department with racketeering conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of and conspiracy to possess machine guns.
Despite Cuadra’s arrest on immigration charges, the FBI’s Houston office, which led the investigation that resulted in his arrest, continues to investigate him for his alleged role as an MS-13 leader.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative aimed at dismantling drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and to protect communities from violent crime.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security for more information, but did not immediately receive a response.
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In February, President Donald Trump designated several groups — mostly drug cartels, including MS-13 — as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, expanding the government’s ability to crack down on criminal groups operating in the U.S.