The mother of a suspected MS-13 gang leader claimed she had no idea about her son’s alleged antics following his dramatic arrest at her upscale Virginia home.
The mom, who refused to emerge from behind her front door, snapped at reporters from WUSA9 when they approached her at the Dale City property.
She claimed she was unable to speak English – but was filmed speaking the language fluently.
Prosecutors say her son Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, is one of three US leaders of the bloodthirsty El Salvadorian street gang MS-13.
The FBI said it recovered multiple firearms, ammo and silencers after it raided his mom’s house on Thursday.
But Santos’ mother claimed to have no idea about the allegations against her son but categorically denied that he was a gang member when asked by WUSA9’s Katie Lusso.
‘He is my son, but I don’t know anything,’ the woman said. When Lusso asked if she believed he might be a gang member, she shouted: ‘No!’
Last summer she reported a burglary at a home in Dale City. The FBI placed the residence under surveillance and agents noted they had ‘routinely observed’ Santos coming and going.
He was picked up following a dawn raid which stunned the residents of the leafy suburb.
Santos was discovered cowering in an alcove leading to a garage at his mom’s house, authorities said.
The Maine Wire reports that SWAT teams stormed the premises and had to deploy stun grenades to drag him out.
He was taken into custody in northern Virginia on an outstanding administrative immigration warrant, according to court papers, and was charged with illegal gun possession.
Court documents obtained by NGO Virginians 4 Safe Communities reveal that Santos has a length rap sheet for drugs and driving offences.
In 2018 he was arrested for marijuana possession and driving without a license.
The next year he was arrested again for marijuana possession and again in 2023 for driving an uninspected, uninsured car without a license.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Santos had been living in the US illegally.
She said Santos was ‘very dangerous’ and had been recruited by MS-13 when he was ‘very young’ before rising through the ranks.
The administration promoted the arrest as part of its effort to fulfill campaign promises to quash illegal immigration and eliminate gangs.
The MS-13 gang, or Mara Salvatrucha, was one of eight Latin American criminal organizations declared foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration last month.
In the past decade, the U.S. Justice Department has intensified its focus on MS-13, which originated as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles, but grew into a transnational gang based in El Salvador.
Trump has branded it one of the key threats to domestic security and safety and made deporting its members a priority.