ICE Arrested 131 Alleged Gang Members in One Week, Including 22 Alleged MS-13 and 13 Tren de Aragua Members, DHS Says
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 131 people allegedly tied to gangs in a single week, including 22 alleged MS-13 members and 13 alleged Tren de Aragua members, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital.
The arrests took place between Oct. 4 and Oct. 10, according to DHS, which gave the figures to Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. The New York Post published the same report. DHS had not posted a separate release on the week’s numbers on dhs.gov as of Saturday night.
DHS also said ICE has made 12,018 gang-related arrests since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025. In June, the department announced on dhs.gov that ICE had passed 10,000 gang member arrests in Trump’s second term.
“In less than a week, the brave patriots of ICE have arrested more than 100 gang members across the country, including members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “The best that America has to offer are on the frontlines every day to ensure that the worst of humanity cannot threaten or harm innocent Americans.”
Mullin credited Trump’s leadership and said, “Arresting and deporting illegal aliens, especially gang members, is how we make America safe again.”
WHO DHS SAYS WAS ARRESTED
DHS named several of the people arrested. All of the gang ties and criminal allegations below are DHS’s accusations; none of the people has been convicted of them in a U.S. court, as far as the department’s statement shows.
Gustavo Adolfo Flores-Ramirez, a Salvadoran national whom DHS described as an MS-13 member, was arrested in Las Vegas during that week, according to DHS. The department said he is wanted in El Salvador on charges including aggravated homicide, aggravated femicide and rape of a minor or incapacitated person. DHS said he was arrested in the U.S. in September 2021 and deported to Mexico, then re-entered illegally at an unknown time. ICE’s Salt Lake City enforcement office, which covers Nevada, separately posted on X that it had arrested him in Las Vegas and that he has a foreign warrant in El Salvador.
Jose Luis Perez-Arrias, a Venezuelan national, was arrested in Tallahassee, Florida, DHS said. DHS described him as a Tren de Aragua member and a suspected hitman for the gang. According to DHS, he entered the country illegally in October 2023, was arrested by Border Patrol and was released into the country.
Emerson Jossiel Calderon-Hernandez, a Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 member, was arrested in Washington, D.C., DHS said. The department said he entered the country illegally in August 2012 and was released, and that he has prior arrests for offenses including second-degree assault, attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and false imprisonment.
THE ICE GANG ARRESTS IN CONTEXT
The weekly figure is DHS’s own count, and it has not been independently confirmed. The department did not say in its statement how many of the 131 people have been charged with crimes in the United States, how many have already been deported, or how ICE determined each person’s gang affiliation.
Responses from the people named were not available, and no lawyers for them were identified in the reports. Fox News Digital and DHS are the only sources for the week’s total; the New York Post’s version carries the same figures.
Sources: Department of Homeland Security statement to Fox News Digital (Oct. 17, 2026); New York Post (Oct. 17, 2026); ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Salt Lake City on X; DHS release on 10,000 gang arrests (June 24, 2026). Cover and in-post backgrounds: ICE file photos, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Comments