San Salvador / Los Angeles – 7 May 2025
Alejandro Gonzales, a senior MS-13 figure believed to be involved in large-scale drug distribution in Central America and the United States, remains at large after escaping custody during a prison transfer earlier this year, according to newly unsealed US court documents.
Alejandro Gonzales, an alleged member of the Fulton Locos Salvatrucha clique of MS-13, escaped on 18 February 2025, while being transported by Salvadoran prison authorities near San Miguel. Officials say a group of heavily armed attackers intercepted the transfer convoy in a planned ambush, disabling the lead and rear escort vehicles before forcibly removing Gonzales from the transport van. At least one prison officer was injured in the incident.
Gonzales had been arrested in late 2024 and was facing charges related to drug trafficking, firearms offences, and suspected links to multiple homicides tied to MS-13 enforcement operations in El Salvador and Guatemala. Security officials had flagged him as a high-risk detainee with documented communication ties to gang leadership in the US.
The incident drew little international attention until April 2025, when court filings from an unrelated MS-13 racketeering case in California were unsealed. In those documents, a federal informant referenced Gonzales by name, described the escape in detail, and claimed that Gonzales was transported north through Guatemala and Mexico with the help of cartel-affiliated smugglers.
The filings suggest Alejandro Gonzales may now be in Southern California, potentially hiding in safe houses operated by MS-13 affiliates in Los Angeles County – a region long identified by US law enforcement as a key operational base for the gang’s cross-border drug distribution networks.
A senior US law enforcement official familiar with the case, speaking on background due to the sensitivity of the investigation, confirmed that ‘multiple agencies’ are now involved in efforts to locate Gonzales, including the DEA, FBI, and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit. Gonzales is also known to have expressed ambitions to dramatically expand MS-13’s footprint inside the United States, and has reportedly spoken to associates about staging an ‘invasion’ from the southern border, despite the Trump administration’s renewed crackdown on gang activity and border security.
Federal authorities have issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to Alejandro Gonzales’s arrest. He is considered armed and dangerous.
