CORAL GABLES, FL - Authorities with the Coral Gables Police Department said that on Friday, May 16th, an alleged MS-13 gang member was arrested for an attempted carjacking.
According to NBC Miami, police said that a resident had been stopped at a stop sign near the 1500 block of Red Road when he was approached by a masked man who attempted to take his car. The victim was able to get away and call the police, who responded and took the suspect into custody. Police recovered a gun, knife and mask.
The suspect has been identified as Wilson Verela. Police said Verela had recently been released from prison for aggravated battery with a weapon. During the investigation, police said that Verela, a Honduran national, admitted to being a member of the notorious, violent transnational gang MS-13.
Local10 reported that the Florida Department of Corrections said that Verela, who also is known as "El Low Key" and "Gifo," walked out of prison on February 10th.
Records show that he was arrested on October 22, 2024 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Miami-Dade county. He was convicted and sentenced to a year and nine months in prison. Coral Gables detectives are working with Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection to ascertain Verela's status in the United States.
In a separate incident, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested an alleged MS-13 gang member with a lengthy rap sheet after he refused to cooperate with Virginia officials. Fox News reported that 25-year-old Mykol Santos-Santos, a Guatemalan national who is in the country illegally, was taken into custody by ICE Washington, D.C. in Fairfax, Virginia.
During the arrest, an ICE officer was injured due to Santos-Santos resisting. The MS-13 gang member has a long rap sheet with charges and convictions including assault and battery, burglary, credit card fraud, trespassing, drug crimes, property damage, obstruction of justice, attempting to flee police, failure to appear, and violating court orders.
ICE made the arrest after the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center refused to honor ICE's 16th immigration detainer lodged against him. ICE said Santos-Santos' criminal history in its database is more than 15 pages long and that he has been arrested more than 30 times by Fairfax County police.
He's also had 16 immigration detainers lodged against him in the last three years. He illegally entered the U.S via Texas in 2014 and his deportation was ordered by a Department of Justice judge in 2023.
In a statement, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., Field Officer Director Russell Hott said, "Mykol Santos-Santos is a habitual offender. He is a documented member of a violent criminal gang with a lengthy criminal history and represents an egregious danger to our Virginia communities. While we are happy to have arrested him, we find it inexcusable that local law enforcement refused to honor 16 separate immigration detainers against Santos-Santos, forcing ICE officers to make an at large arrest where one of our officers was injured."
According to NBC Miami, police said that a resident had been stopped at a stop sign near the 1500 block of Red Road when he was approached by a masked man who attempted to take his car. The victim was able to get away and call the police, who responded and took the suspect into custody. Police recovered a gun, knife and mask.
The suspect has been identified as Wilson Verela. Police said Verela had recently been released from prison for aggravated battery with a weapon. During the investigation, police said that Verela, a Honduran national, admitted to being a member of the notorious, violent transnational gang MS-13.
Local10 reported that the Florida Department of Corrections said that Verela, who also is known as "El Low Key" and "Gifo," walked out of prison on February 10th.
Records show that he was arrested on October 22, 2024 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Miami-Dade county. He was convicted and sentenced to a year and nine months in prison. Coral Gables detectives are working with Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection to ascertain Verela's status in the United States.
In a separate incident, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested an alleged MS-13 gang member with a lengthy rap sheet after he refused to cooperate with Virginia officials. Fox News reported that 25-year-old Mykol Santos-Santos, a Guatemalan national who is in the country illegally, was taken into custody by ICE Washington, D.C. in Fairfax, Virginia.
During the arrest, an ICE officer was injured due to Santos-Santos resisting. The MS-13 gang member has a long rap sheet with charges and convictions including assault and battery, burglary, credit card fraud, trespassing, drug crimes, property damage, obstruction of justice, attempting to flee police, failure to appear, and violating court orders.
ICE made the arrest after the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center refused to honor ICE's 16th immigration detainer lodged against him. ICE said Santos-Santos' criminal history in its database is more than 15 pages long and that he has been arrested more than 30 times by Fairfax County police.
He's also had 16 immigration detainers lodged against him in the last three years. He illegally entered the U.S via Texas in 2014 and his deportation was ordered by a Department of Justice judge in 2023.
In a statement, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., Field Officer Director Russell Hott said, "Mykol Santos-Santos is a habitual offender. He is a documented member of a violent criminal gang with a lengthy criminal history and represents an egregious danger to our Virginia communities. While we are happy to have arrested him, we find it inexcusable that local law enforcement refused to honor 16 separate immigration detainers against Santos-Santos, forcing ICE officers to make an at large arrest where one of our officers was injured."
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Comments
2025-05-20T18:21-0400 | Comment by: Toni
It is mind boggling that anyone working in any capacity of law enforcement would refuse to detain, not only an illegal immigrant, but a known criminal.
2025-05-22T17:52-0400 | Comment by: thomas
Deport