ICE arrests alleged Mexican gang member in KC after repeated illegal entries
Federal immigration agents in Kansas City arrested a 34-year-old man from Mexico last week who was previously deported several times and was identified as a gang member, according to a news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Kansas City.
Agents with the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrested Mario Torrez-Lopez in a targeted enforcement action on July 20.
A federal grand jury indicted Torrez-Lopez on Wednesday with returning to the United States after being deported for a felony conviction. Court documents show immigration officials arrested him in Wyandotte County.
Torrez-Lopez’s previous order of removal has been reinstated, according to immigration officials. He was in ICE custody while awaiting an upcoming court appearances.
When asked whether Torrez-Lopez would be immediately deported or held over for trial, Erin Bultje, a spokesperson for ICE, said she couldn’t speak to what the immigration judge will decide.
Torrez-Lopez had been deported from the United States in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022, and allegedly returned each time. Torrez-Lopez is a confirmed member of the Sureños gang, according to officials who say he admitted the affiliation.
“This individual repeatedly crossed the border, joined a violent gang while incarcerated, and built a track record of crime and disregard for the law,” said Mark Zito, ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City’s special agent-in-charge. “He’s exactly the kind of threat we are determined to find, stop and remove from our communities.”
According to immigration officials, Torrez-Lopez was first arrested in 2012 in Indianapolis for resisting arrest and illegally passing a school bus, resulting in felony and misdemeanor convictions.
In 2017, he was convicted and sentenced to 30 days in federal custody after he illegally entered the United States. A year later, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for returning to the United States after he was removed, according to immigration officials.
In 2020, he was sentenced to a 21-month federal sentence for another illegal reentry and was placed on supervised release for three years. He allegedly violated his release in 2022 and was ordered back to prison.
Immigration said Torrez-Lopez allegedly admitted to joining the Sureños gang while in prison and has remained affiliated with the gang.
If convicted, Torrez-Lopez faces up to 10 years in prison.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM.
