KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) – A Mexican national described by authorities as having been previously deported and with a long criminal history, as well as ties to gangs, was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Kansas City during an operation carried out on July 20.
According to a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Investigations division, 34-year-old Mario Tórrez López admitted to being a member of the Sureños gang.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California has previously said that the Sureños gang has roots in Southern California and in Latin America.
Tórrez López was deported from the United States in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
According to authorities, despite the deportations, he returned unlawfully and has been involved in criminal conduct in several states.
“This individual repeatedly crossed the border, joined a violent gang while incarcerated, built a criminal history and flouted the law,” said the HSI ICE official Mark Zito. “He is exactly the kind of threat we are determined to locate, detain, and remove from our communities.”
HSI told our sister station KCTV5 that Tórrez López will remain in ICE custody while he awaits court appearances. The agency says his criminal record spans more than a decade and across multiple states.
According to authorities, Tórrez López was arrested in 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana, for resisting arrest and illegally passing a school bus.
After illegally entering the United States in 2017, he was sentenced to 30 days in federal custody. A year later, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for reentering the country illegally.
He received a 21-month sentence in 2020 for another illegal reentry and was placed on supervised release for three years. That supervision was breached and, in 2022, Tórrez López was again sent to federal prison.
While in prison, authorities said he admitted to having joined the Sureños gang.
