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 April 1, 2024
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 Freddy Ivan Jandres-Parada. Photo credit: FBI.
FBI Captures MS-13 ‘Most Wanted’ at Southern Border
One of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, a senior leader of the transnational criminal organization MS-13, is in U.S. custody following his arrest March 7 at the California-Mexico border. Freddy Ivan Jandres-Parada, 48, also known as “Lucky De Park View,” had evaded authorities since December 2020. At that time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York indicted him and 13 other members of MS-13’s “board of directors” on multiple charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, acts of terrorism across national boundaries, financing terrorism and narco-terrorism. Federal prosecutors allege that the group ran military-style training camps and obtained weapons -- including handguns, rifles, grenades, improvised explosive devices and rocket launchers -- while directing acts of violence and murder in the U.S., El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. Jandres-Parada is a member of the group’s leadership council, initially known as the “Twelve Apostles of the Devil” and later renamed to “Ranfla Nacional,” which leads thousands of MS-13 members worldwide. The El Salvadorian national is being held at the federal jail in San Diego, California, pending his transfer to federal custody in New York, where he will await trial. Two other MS-13 gang leaders, César Humberto López-Larios and Hugo Armando Quinteros-Mineros, remain at large.
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 A man waves a rainbow flag during a St. Petersburg, Russia, pride parade in 2019. Photo credit: Reuters.
Police Arrest 2 in Russia’s First LGBTQ+ Extremism Case
Police arrested two employees of an Orenburg, Russia, LGBTQ+ club March 20 on suspicion of being members of an extremist organization. It is the country’s first criminal case of its kind since Russia’s highest court outlawed the international LGBT movement in November 2023. Authorities charged the club’s art director, Alexander Klimov, and administrator, Diana Kamilyanova, of “promoting non-traditional sexual relations among the visitors of the bar.” A lawyer for the Russian LGBT group “Coming Out” said the case was “a big surprise.” The case could demonstrate that Russian authorities are now treating instances of so-called LGBT propaganda as a criminal rather than an administrative offense. In December 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded a 2013 law criminalizing any positive public mention of LGBTQ+ individuals or relationships. In July 2023, lawmakers banned gender reassignment surgery, and, in November, the supreme court passed the “LGBT movement” ban, under which there have been several administrative proceedings that have resulted in fines and short detentions. If found guilty, the defendants face up to 10 years in jail.
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 German police arrest two suspected ISIS supporters. Photo credit: Michele Tantussi/Getty Images.
German Police Detain 2 ISIS Supporters Plotting Swedish Parliament Attack Over Quran Burnings
German police arrested two Afghan citizens March 19 for plotting an attack near the Swedish parliament in a response to recent Quran burnings in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. Authorities, who adhere to German privacy laws, identified the two suspected ISIS supporters as Ibrahim M.G. and Ramin N. Prosecutors claim ISIS-Khorasan, the group’s Afghanistan affiliate, commissioned the two men to retaliate against the Quran-burning incidents, which inflamed tensions in many Muslim-majority countries. The co-conspirators allegedly planned a firearm attack on police officers and others in the vicinity of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm. Prosecutors said the men conducted internet research on the local conditions around the possible crime scene and tried several times, albeit unsuccessfully, to obtain weapons. The attack never materialized.
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The ‘Terrorism At a Glance’ product is a weekly summary of current events intended to highlight terrorism incidents and trends. The content is aggregated from open-source information and considered a snapshot in time of reporting from news agencies, government press releases, research studies, etc. The product is intended for informational purposes only and does not reflect the opinion of NJOHSP or the State of New Jersey. For a list of aggregated sources, please visit NJOHSP’s podcast episode notes at njohsp.gov/connect/podcasts.
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