The notorious leader of the Peruvian gang “Los Killers,” Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, has been arrested
The man was apprehended by U.S. immigration authorities on Wednesday in Endicott, New York.
Torres-Navarro, who is a prime suspect in at least 23 killings in Peru, was arrested about 145 miles northwest of New York City.
AP reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday that Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, 38, was being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo pending an immigration hearing.
Torres-Navarro entered the U.S. illegally at the Texas-Mexico border on May 16 and was arrested the same day, receiving a notice to appear for immigration proceedings. U.S. authorities acted on July 8 after learning he was wanted in Peru.
Thomas Brophy, director of ICE’s Buffalo field office, stated, “Gianfranco Torres-Navarro poses a significant threat to our communities, and we won’t allow New York to be a safe haven for dangerous noncitizens.”
ICE also arrested Torres-Navarro’s girlfriend, Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortíz Ubillús, described by Peruvian authorities as his right hand. She is currently held at a processing center in Pennsylvania.
Peruvian authorities confirmed to the AP that they ordered Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús’s location and international capture on July 3.
Col. Franco Moreno, head of Peru’s High Complexity Crime Investigations Division, revealed that they tracked phone calls, geolocations, and messages from Torres-Navarro and his gang, which includes at least 10 members.
Moreno described Torres-Navarro as a highly dangerous criminal responsible for 23 murders, including gang leaders and their families, to assert his criminal dominance.
Torres-Navarro leads a criminal organization known as “Los Killers de Ventanilla y Callao,” which uses violence to protect its extortion operations against construction companies.
Peruvian media reported that Torres-Navarro fled Peru following the murder of retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera and the shooting of a municipal employee in San Miguel in March.
In June, Peruvian authorities arrested six reputed members of “Los Killers,” who were charged with homicide, contract killing, and extortion.
Meanwhile, Torres-Navarro was part of the criminal group “Los Malditos de Angamos” and is also known as “Gianfranco 23,” referring to the number of alleged murders.
Despite being sentenced in absentia to 10 years for illegal weapons possession in 2019, he evaded arrest until 2021, when he was arrested near Lima. After being acquitted, he was released last December, and violence by “Los Killers” intensified thereafter.
Ortíz Ubillús, Torres-Navarro’s romantic partner and lieutenant in “Los Killers,” also gained prominence on TikTok, where she flaunted their lavish lifestyle, including designer clothes and vacations.
