Alleged MS-13 gang member accused of 5 murders in home country nabbed in Virginia
FIRST ON FOX: An MS-13 gang member and alleged mass murderer has been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Virginia, Department of Homeland Security sources told Fox News Digital.
The announcement of the arrest of Edwin Antonio Hernandez Hernandez, 27, of El Salvador, comes after newly sworn-in Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order saying local and state law enforcement are no longer required to cooperate with ICE, repealing an order from her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin.
Sources told Fox News Digital that Hernandez has claimed to have participated in five murders in El Salvador and is an MS-13 gang member who goes by the aliases "Demente" and "Crazy."
In two of the claimed murders, Hernandez allegedly shot members of the rival 18th Street gang in the chest and head, according to the sources. The gang, also referred to as Barrio 18, was designated by the U.S. State Department last year as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
In another murder, Hernandez stated that MS-13 was torturing an 18th Street gang member and stabbed him twice in the chest before MS-13 dismembered the individual while he was still alive, the sources added.
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report obtained by Fox News Digital said Hernandez entered the U.S. illegally near Hidalgo, Texas, in June 2015.
He was then arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol, the report said, before being released from custody during immigration court proceedings.
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Hernandez eventually was brought back into custody by ICE on Dec. 31 in Alexandria, Va., for remaining in the U.S. without a proper visa and illegal entry, according to the report.
DHS sources told Fox News Digital he was arrested after USCIS referred him to ICE.
On her first day in office, Spanberger, a Democrat, signed an executive order that "rescinded Executive Order 47, which requires and encourages state and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws."
"Ensuring public safety in Virginia requires state and local law enforcement to be focused on their core responsibilities of investigating and deterring criminal activity, staffing jails, and community engagement," her office said at the time.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.