fbi most wanted list Archives

FBI Fugitive Arrested Days after Being Added to Most Wanted List

An accused gang banger was arrested Friday for the murder of his girlfriend and her toddler son only days after being put on the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ list, federal authorities said.

Juan Elias ‘Cruzito’ Garcia, 21, a reputed member of the murderous international gang known as MS-13, was taken into custody after voluntarily returning to the US to face the charges, according to an FBI press release.

Garcia, who has ties to El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama, is accused in the 2010 execution-style shooting of the mother and child in Central Islip, New York, authorities said.

Perp walk: Salvadoran Juan Elias Garcia (L) escorted by policemen after his capture Friday in Managua, Nicaragua

Garcia’s girlfriend Vanessa Argueta, 19, and her son, Diego Torres, 2, were victims in the brutal slaying.

He Friday surrender came just two days after being put on the most wanted list, it was the result of a coordinated effort between Nicaraguan authorities and US law enforcement.

American authorities sent aircraft to bring Garcia to New York.

Garcia was threatened by rival gang members after an argument with Argueta. He accused her of going behind his back to the gang, the FBI said.

Garcia and two fellow gang members shot her and her son dead after luring them to a wooded area in February 2010, said the FBI.

The mother was killed first, causing the young boy to start crying, said investigators, He was then hit by a bullet that knocked him down, the FBI said.

Off to America: Garcia (2-L) escorted in a vehicle by policemen to a plane waiting to fly him to New York

‘Torres got back up and clutched onto Garcia’s leg’ before he was shot in the head, according tot he FBI.

Fellow accused gang members Adalberto Ariel Guzman and Rene Mendez Mejia are awaiting sentencing after Mejia pleaded guilty to the murders and Guzman was found guilty at trial.

Gang leader Heriberto Martinez has been sentenced to three life terms, plus 60 years, in prison for multiple convictions that include murder, racketeering and conspiracy.

Read more: DailyMail

FBI’s 10 most Wanted List – Tiny Thug Who Murdered Girlfriend and 2 Year Old Son

He’s 5 ft 4inches.

A Salvadoran thug who executed his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend and let fellow gang members shoot her terrified two-old-son as he grabbed his leg for help has been added to the FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted Fugitives’ list.

MS-13 gang member Juan Elias Garcia, 21, whose last reported sighting was somewhere in Honduras in 2011, is the fourth person sought by federal authorities in the Long Island killings of 19-year-old Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son Diego Torres, said George Venizelos, the FBI assistant director of the New York field office.

Garcia, who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighs 125 pounds is a native of El Salvador and is the first MS-13 gang member to make the bureau’s most wanted list.

He allegedly brought Argueta to the woods of Central Islip, Long Island in February 2010 under the ruse of taking her to to dinner, Venizelos said.

Most wanted: Juan Elias Garcia, an alleged member of the MS-13 gang, is seen in an undated picture released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on March 26, 2014. Garcia, 21, has been added to the FBI’s list of ‘Ten Most Wanted Fugitives’ for his role in the 2010 killing of his girlfriend Vanessa Argueta and little Diego Torres (right)

Argueta was accompanied by two other reputed MS-13 members who had received permission from the gang’s leader to carry out the killing, Venizelos said.

One of them shot her in the chest and head because of alleged threats made toward Garcia by rival gang members to whom she had ties, according to Venizelos.

Her son who witnessed his mother’s death began crying the thugs shot him in the head — but the wound proved not fatal and the terrified boy grabbed Garcia’s leg.

Then another gang member, Adalberto Ariel Guzman, shot him in the head a second time, killing the boy.

‘Once on his feet, Diego saw Garcia, a familiar face in the crowd, and clutched onto his leg. However, the violence did not stop. Guzman fired the second shot that struck Diego in the head and killed him,’ Venizelos said.

‘Garcia decided that penalty for disrespecting the gang was death,’ Venizelos said. ‘While crime and gang-related activity often goes hand in hand, the execution-style murders of Vanessa and her 2-year-old son is a new low even for MS-13.’

Announcement: US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch (2nd L, at podium) and FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos (3rd L) announce that Juan Elias Garcia (R, in poster), also known as ‘Cruzito’, from El Salvador, has been added to FBIs Ten Most Wanted list

Heinous crime: US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch (L) and FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos (R) announce that Juan Elias Garcia has been added to FBIs Most Wanted

Garcia, who was only 17 when the crime took place, is alleged to be a member of the violent Mara Salvatrucha gang, known as MS-13, and is believed to be hiding in El Salvador, authorities said Wednesday.

‘MS-13 is the most violent gang here of any of the street gangs,’ said Special Agent Reynaldo Tariche, who investigated the case with other members of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force.

Authorities say Garcia had a romantic relationship with Argueta, but she had ties to rival gangs.

Last October, the Treasury Department designated MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, as an international criminal organization.

h/t Daily Mail