The spotlight is once again on California’s sanctuary policies following the arrest of a feared MS-13 gang member, infamous for wielding a machete and known by the alias “the witch.” This individual was apprehended for the second time in the state after an earlier release during the Biden administration in 2023.

Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego have detained David Antonio Aviles Perez, aged 35, who is sought in El Salvador on charges of aggravated murder. Initially arrested and released in Monterey, California, in 2023, he faced allegations of assault with a deadly weapon after purportedly attacking a man with a machete.

Acting Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Lauren Bis highlighted the arrest in a statement last week, noting, “ICE has captured this dangerous criminal illegal alien and MS-13 gang member wanted for murder in El Salvador.”

Bis further criticized California’s policies, stating, “Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary laws facilitated the release of this gang member from jail after his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and petty theft.”

David Antonio Aviles Perez, notorious in El Salvador as “the witch” and a member of the infamous MS-13 gang, is wanted for murder by Salvadoran prosecutors.

The capture of one of El Salvador’s most dreaded executioners coincided with the swearing-in of DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin by President Donald Trump.

Aviles Perez is being held pending removal to El Salvador, a contrast to his Biden administration release as an illegal alien alleged to have threatened a California man with a machete in 2023.

The case has intensified criticism from federal officials of California’s sanctuary law under Newsom, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

DHS has called out California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and his state’s sanctuary policies for its refusal to empower local police officials to work with federal immigration enforcement officials. (Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images)

“Releasing this gang member back into California neighborhoods put American lives at risk,” Bis’ statement concluded. “Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Mullin, this murderer is off our streets and will soon be out of our country.”

El Salvador had sentenced Aviles Perez, known as “la bruja” (“the witch”), to 20 years in prison for a 2014 gang killing, according to the Salvadoran prosecution’s indictment from December, which reported he was alleged to have “shot the victim in the chest, back, and face” and was a known MS-13 gang member.

Aviles Perez’s criminal violence reportedly continued in California in 2023 after crossing the border at an unknown date. He was alleged to have “swung a machete” at a homeless man at Laguna Grande Park near Monterey State Beach and “hid the machete which was later recovered in the Holiday Inn parking lot,” according to the report.

He was charged and convicted before being released back onto the streets.