The recent deportation of a high-ranking MS-13 leader as part of a broader mass removal of Venezuelan nationals is raising questions about whether the Trump administration is compromising its long-standing efforts to dismantle transnational gangs in favor of rapid deportation policies.
César Humberto López Larios, known as “Greñas,” a veteran leader of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, was deported to El Salvador on March 15 alongside more than 200 Venezuelan nationals and several suspected Salvadoran gang members.
The group was transported aboard a U.S. government flight after authorities invoked a rarely used 18th-century wartime statute to bypass traditional deportation protocols.
López Larios had been among 14 senior MS-13 members indicted on terrorism charges in a landmark 2021 case hailed by U.S. officials as a sweeping effort to cripple the gang’s leadership structure.
At that time, the Department of Justice described the indictment as the “highest-reaching and most comprehensive” ever filed against MS-13.
But in a dramatic reversal, the Justice Department dropped those terrorism charges before López Larios’ deportation, citing “geopolitical and national security concerns.” The decision allowed his removal to El Salvador, where he is now being held in a maximum-security facility, CECOT.
The development marks a potential shift in the U.S. government’s approach to combating organized crime, raising concerns that the administration is prioritizing mass deportation efforts over high-profile gang prosecutions.
The deportation flight also included more than 200 Venezuelan nationals whom U.S. officials allege are affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, recently designated a terrorist organization by the State Department along with MS-13 and several Mexican cartels.
However, U.S. authorities have acknowledged a lack of concrete evidence linking many of the Venezuelans to criminal activity.
In exchange for accepting the deportees, El Salvador’s government reportedly agreed to house the Venezuelan detainees in its Terrorism Confinement Center (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT), a maximum-security prison built to contain Salvadoran gang members. Salvadoran officials are said to have received $6 million in compensation for housing the individuals.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has publicly offered to accept foreign prisoners in exchange for payment.
Behind closed doors, he also requested the return of MS-13 leaders, including López Larios, according to statements from the Salvadoran ambassador to the United States.
A video released by Bukele’s government shows López Larios shackled and escorted by heavily armed security forces upon arrival in El Salvador.
He and the other deportees were quickly transferred under high security to a maximum security prison, CECOT.
López Larios had previously been deported from the United States in 2017, only to escape custody in El Salvador and resurface in Mexico, where he joined MS-13 operations.
He was arrested in Chiapas in June 2024 and later extradited to the United States before being sent back to El Salvador last week.
Critics say the decision to dismiss terrorism charges against López Larios undercuts years of U.S. law enforcement efforts to prosecute MS-13 leaders domestically.
Since the initial indictment during Trump’s first term, federal agencies have launched multiple initiatives, including a joint task force between the Justice Department and the FBI aimed at dismantling MS-13.
The Biden administration had continued to pressure Salvadoran authorities to extradite gang leaders implicated in the terrorism case. However, El Salvador didn’t comply with such requests.
The deportation of López Larios now raises questions about whether the U.S. government is using these MS-13 leaders as bargaining chips to facilitate deportations.
“This appears to be a trade-off,” said one former U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the case. “We may be losing leverage in a high-profile gang prosecution in exchange for securing deportation deals that serve a different political agenda.”
Observers note that the move aligns with Bukele’s interests. The Salvadoran government has repeatedly refused to extradite MS-13 leaders, many of whom, according to U.S. prosecutors, were involved in clandestine negotiations with Bukele’s administration.
In those talks, gang leaders allegedly agreed to reduce El Salvador’s homicide rate in exchange for prison privileges and protection from extradition.
Among those accused of participating in the negotiations is Élmer Canales Rivera, alias “Crook,” who was released from Salvadoran custody and later arrested in Mexico.
He is now awaiting trial in New York, where prosecutors allege he played a central role in brokering deals between MS-13 and Bukele’s government.
The return of additional MS-13 leaders to El Salvador could potentially block further revelations about those secret arrangements from surfacing in U.S. courtrooms.
As the Trump administration pursues increasingly aggressive deportation strategies, the decision to relinquish custody of a key MS-13 figure underscores a growing tension between domestic law enforcement priorities and broader political calculations on immigration.
Whether this signals a permanent shift in U.S. gang enforcement strategy—or merely a one-time compromise—remains to be seen.
