Previously Deported MS-13 Member Caught at Arizona Border

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported criminal alien who is a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) after he illegally re-entered the U.S. in southern Arizona. Immigration officers removed the convicted felon and self-admitted gang member earlier this year.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tucson Sector patrolled the border east of Lukeville, Arizona, on Saturday night shortly before midnight. The agents observed a man they suspected had illegally crossed the border from Mexico, according to information provided by Border Patrol officials.

The agents arrested the man and identified him as 37-year-old Carlos Flores-Marquez, a Salvadoran national. The man admitted to Border Patrol agents that he is a member of MS-13, officials stated. The agents transported him to the Border Patrol station where they conducted a biometric background investigation.

During the background investigation, the agents discovered the Salvadoran gang member has a criminal history in multiple states. Those states include Arizona, Florida, and Virginia, officials stated. In 2016, a court in Abermarle County, Virginia, convicted Flores-Marquez on multiple felonies. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers deported him from the United States to El Salvador earlier this year, officials reported.

The Salvadoran gang member now faces new federal felony charges for illegal re-entry after removal as a convicted felon and gang member. If convicted on the charges, Flores-Marquez could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

Border Patrol agents subject all illegal aliens apprehended after illegally crossing the border to a biometric background investigation. Those investigations frequently lead to the discovery of previously convicted criminal aliens, child molesters, and other sexual offenders who attempt to get back into the United States after being deported.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.