The Department of Homeland Security has announced the arrest and deportation of an illegal immigrant with ties to two of the most violent criminal organizations operating in the Western Hemisphere, a man who had been known to authorities since 2024 but was left free during the Biden administration.
The individual, identified as Isaias Jose Rodriguez-Manzanares, is a Honduran national, a self-admitted MS-13 gang member, and an associate of the Cartel del Noreste, a notoriously brutal drug trafficking organization. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations carried out his removal on June 20.
As originally reported, Rodriguez-Manzanares first came to the attention of immigration officials in January 2024 following an arrest by the Irving Police Department on a liquor violation. His MS-13 affiliation was known at that point. The Biden administration took no steps to detain or deport him.
While MS-13 is widely known as a savage El Salvadoran street gang, the Cartel del Noreste is a somewhat lesser-known but equally dangerous organization. It is a splinter faction of the infamous Los Zetas cartel, controls the border city of Nuevo Laredo, and generates income through extortion, migrant smuggling, and taxing border crossings.
Rodriguez-Manzanares was arrested again on June 16, 2025, this time by the Colleyville Police Department on charges of manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance and unlawfully carrying a weapon. The charges were later reduced and he was ultimately convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance, receiving a two-year prison sentence.
After completing that sentence, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice transferred him into ICE custody on May 20. His deportation to Honduras followed shortly after.
Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis commented directly on the case, noting that the Biden administration had allowed him to remain free in American communities despite his criminal history and gang connections. She pointed to the cooperation between Texas law enforcement and ICE as a model for how the system should work.
Bis also drew a broader conclusion from the case, stating that seven of the ten safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE, framing local and federal coordination as a direct factor in public safety outcomes.
Both MS-13 and the Cartel del Noreste have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations, making Rodriguez-Manzanares’ continued presence in the country during the prior administration a point of sharp political focus for DHS officials now highlighting the case.