Federal agents in Chicago apprehended a person believed to be a leader of the Latin Kings on Monday. This individual is suspected of offering financial rewards for capturing and killing a high-ranking immigration officer involved in “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois made public a criminal complaint against 37-year-old Juan Espinoza Martinez from Chicago, charging him with one count of murder for hire. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the target on whom Martinez allegedly set a bounty as the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Gregory Bovino.
Martinez was taken into custody Monday morning, though his initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros called the alleged plot “an attack on the rule of law.”
The arrest followed a violent weekend in Chicago marked by multiple shootings and clashes with law enforcement.
On Saturday, federal agents detained two individuals accused of crashing into government vehicles. One of the suspects, Marimar Martinez, was shot and injured, while the other, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, was arrested in a separate but related case.
L-R: Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz and Marimar Martinez. (Department of Justice)
The shooting of Marimar Martinez was one of 22 incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, during which Chicago police reported 29 people were shot, and four were killed.
