ICE Arrests MS-13 Member in Palm Beach County After 12 Years in U.S.

PALM BEACH COUNTY — A confirmed MS-13 gang member from Honduras who entered the United States illegally in 2013 was arrested in Palm Beach County last month during a multiagency operation led by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, the agency announced.

Luis Merary Peralta-Sevilla was taken into custody April 14 after the Florida Highway Patrol executed a coordinated vehicle stop, ICE Director Todd M. Lyons said. “The Florida Highway Patrol arrested Peralta-Sevilla during a coordinated vehicle stop, and ICE took him into custody without incident,” Lyons said. “He is a member of MS-13, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and he’s currently pending removal proceedings with a Department of Justice immigration judge. He’ll stay in our custody pending the outcome of those proceedings.”

The operation involved ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol. Florida police seized Peralta-Sevilla’s vehicle due to violations related to driving without a valid license.

Peralta-Sevilla first illegally entered the U.S. in July 2013. U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered him in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, where he admitted to being a citizen and national of Honduras and acknowledged he was illegally present in the country. A Department of Justice immigration judge granted him bond, and he remained in the U.S. pending removal proceedings. His next scheduled immigration court hearing had been set for April 2027 — nearly 14 years after his initial encounter with Border Patrol.

MS-13 carries a designation as a foreign terrorist organization, which unlocks expanded federal authorities for surveillance and prosecution. The gang has been a target of intensified enforcement operations across Florida and nationwide.

Peralta-Sevilla is currently held at the Palm Beach County Jail pending transfer to ICE custody for removal proceedings. “ICE continues to conduct routine daily immigration enforcement around the country as part of the agency’s effort to arrest criminal aliens and other immigration violators with no legal basis to remain in the United States,” the agency said.