One of Puerto Rico's 10 Most Wanted Arrested in Florida

San Juan, PR – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested one of Puerto Rico's 10 most wanted in Coral Springs, Florida, Oct. 5. 

Teddy León-Ayala was the leader of the gang “Los Extranjeros,” which was part of the United Traffickers Organization (La ONU). He has allegedly been involved in several murders, including that of Puerto Rico Police Officer Blanca de los Santos-Barbosa on July 7, 2010. This crime happened on the Manuel Rivera Morales Express (PR-81), better known as the Trujillo Express, where Santos-Barbosa, while returning home after completing her work shift, was caught in the middle of a shootout between “La ONU” and “La Rompe ONU,” a rival organization devoted to the drug trade in Puerto Rico. 

In this same incident, librarian Manuel Medina, 32, another innocent victim who was traveling on the express in the direction of Trujillo Alto, died.

“The arrest of León-Ayala  is the result of an extensive and rigorous joint investigation with the District of Puerto Rico,” said Wilmer Ocasio-Ibarra, U.S. Marshal of the District of Puerto Rico. “Over the past few years, our staff has remained behind Leon-Ayala in conjunction with the Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force of the Middle District of Florida. Leon-Ayala was placed under arrest without offering resistance, without any incident to regret and where the safety of our personnel was not compromised,” Ocasio-Ibarra said.

“León Ayala, a fugitive since 2012, is a danger to society, not only because he is involved in these vicious deaths, but because of his level of violence to maintain control of drug distribution in Puerto Rico. As a member of several criminal gangs, León-Ayala is identified as part of the ‘Los Rompecaras’ group, so named because they murdered rival criminals, leaving their faces disfigured. Those were the kinds of acts he was involved in. We hope that this arrest will bring some peace to the families of the innocent victims who died in that reprehensible incident, especially to the family of Agent Santos Barbosa and our colleagues from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau. Our commitment to the safety of communities is the primary motivation of our staff. We will never stop in the search for this type of violent offender, they believe they have the resources to evade us, however, we have the motivation and duty to enforce the Law.  As we have always pointed out, it is a matter of time, before our United States Marshals Deputies find you, and knock on your door”, Ocasio-Ibarra said.

Leon-Ayala is already in custody and will begin facing the corresponding judicial processes.

The Marshals encourage the community to continue to work with our agents by providing confidences to help find a fugitive, by contacting our field office at (787) 766-6001, by calling the U.S. Marshals Service Communication Center at 1 (800) 336-0102, or by submitting their confidence using the U.S. Marshals Service Tip application.