NEW YORK — A suspected Peruvian gang leader charged in nearly two dozen murders in his home country was arrested in New York on Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, the leader of “Los Killers”, who is wanted for 23 murders in Peruwas arrested in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northwest of New York City, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported Thursday. He is being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo pending an immigration hearing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Torres-Navarro, 38, entered the U.S. illegally across the Texas-Mexico border on May 16. He was arrested the same day and issued a summons to report for immigration proceedings, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
The agency, known as ICEsaid it arrested Torres-Navarro after receiving information on July 8 that he was wanted in Peru.
“Gianfranco Torres-Navarro poses a significant threat to our communities and we will not allow New York to become a safe haven for dangerous non-citizens,” said Thomas Brophy, director of enforcement operations for ICE’s Buffalo office.
Immigration agents also arrested Torres-Navarro’s girlfriend, Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortíz Ubillús, described by Peruvian authorities as his right-hand woman. She is being held at a processing center in Pennsylvania, according to ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System.
The online immigration detention files of Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús did not include information about attorneys who could comment on their behalf.
The Peruvian justice system confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that it ordered the search and international arrest of Torres-Navarro and his partner Ortiz-Ubilluz on July 3.
According to Peruvian authorities, Torres-Navarro is the leader of a criminal organization known as “Los Killers de Ventanilla y Callao” that has used violence to thwart rivals who wanted to take over the organization’s core business of extorting construction companies.
Torres-Navarro is believed to have fled Peru after the killing of retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera and the shooting of a municipal worker at a restaurant in San Miguel in March, Peruvian media reported.
Six alleged members of “Los Killers,” founded in 2022 in an area along the Pacific coast where Peru’s main port is located, were arrested in a series of raids in June and charged with murder, contract killing and extortion, Peru’s national police said.
Torres-Navarro was previously a member of the criminal organization Los Malditos de Angamos, according to Peru’s Attorney General’s Office. He is also known as “Gianfranco 23,” a reference to the number of people he is said to have killed.
Torres-Navarro has evaded previous attempts to hold him accountable for his alleged crimes.
In 2019, while on the run from authorities, he was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm. He remained free until 2021, when he was arrested at a toll checkpoint near Peru’s capital, Lima. But even then, he didn’t stay behind bars for long. After an acquittal in that case, Torres-Navarro was released last December.
Shortly after, Peruvian authorities reported, “Los Killers” escalated their violence, culminating in the San Miguel shooting.
Gianfranco’s girlfriend, Ortiz Ubillús, has a prominent role in “Los Killers,” Peruvian authorities said. The Public Prosecutor’s Office described her as Torres Navarro’s romantic partner, lieutenant and cashier.
She also has a sizable following on the social media platform TikTok, where she has shown off her extravagant lifestyle, which includes designer clothes, resort vacations and shooting at gun ranges.
__
Briceno reported from Lima, Peru. Associated Press reporters Carolyn Thompson and Phil Marcelo contributed to this report.