Tuxtla Gutiérrez: Mexican authorities arrested a suspected leader of the powerful Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) on Saturday in the southern border state of Chiapas, the public prosecutor's office said.
Orlando Ramirez, or "El Misterio," was arrested in the city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, state security sources told AFP.
He attempted to flee after realizing he was being pursued by local police but was eventually captured, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The Salvadoran national has been handed over to Mexican immigration authorities to determine his legal status.
Ramirez is already convicted of "aggravated murder, rape of a minor or incapacitated person, membership of an illegal organisation and unlawful restriction of freedom of movement," according to El Salvador's Transnational Anti-Gang Center.
He is also accused of illegally carrying military weapons and attempted extortion, it added.
Nearly 490 alleged MS-13 members are currently on trial in El Salvador, accused of 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including 29,000 homicides.
US President Donald Trump, upon returning to office in 2025, declared the gang and several other Latin American cartels as terrorist groups.
In 2022, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele declared a "war" on gangs and imposed a state of emergency, which has since been used to arrest more than 90,000 suspected gang members.
But rights groups have denounced gross human rights abuses including a lack of due process for those arrested.
