Colombian gang kingpin on INTERPOL most wanted list enters US illegally, claims political asylum, arrested in Texas

Last week, the second-in-command of violent Colombian street gang Los Santanás was apprehended in New Braunfels, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio, by Homeland Security agents working with state and local authorities. He was subsequently handed over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Aderbis Pirela, 29, was on INTERPOL's top 10 most wanted list and has warrants out for his arrest in Colombia in connection with at least four murders, as well as drug trafficking and extortion. He had been in the United States since January after being allowed in by claiming political asylum.
 

According to NBC15, Pirela managed to flee Colombia last year before making his way through Central America up to the Mexico-US border. Upon being granted permission to enter, he and his fellow gang members began conducting their business out of a migrant shelter. 

On January 27, authorities were made aware of his actions and began searching for him.

As Fox News reports, police and the mayor of Bogotá are hoping national law enforcement will ensure he ends up in prison and is rendered unable to continue carrying out his crimes while behind bars.

"This just goes to the heart of one of the main issues," former head of customs and border protection Mark Morgan said of Pirela's case during an interview with The National Desk. "The reality is every time Secretary Mayorkas or anybody from this administration tells the American people that we properly vet everyone before we release them is just a lie."

"They're provided a false sense of security that doesn't exist," he added. "The reality is there are many countries that illegal aliens are coming into our country from that we have zero diplomatic relationships with and we're getting nothing with respect to their criminal history."

He went on to suggest that "this is happening every single day because this administration reenacted and reinstituted catch and release."