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President Donald Trump is heading to Nebraska on Monday to campaign for Republicans in the same city where federal authorities last year captured an alleged MS-13 hit squad leader wanted for four murders in Honduras.
Trump will headline a rally in Grand Island alongside U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and Gov. Jim Pillen as part of a multi-state swing ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Located 150 miles west of Omaha, Grand Island drew national attention last year following the arrest of 33-year-old Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, known by the alias “Fantasma.” Authorities allege Cuadra Soto headed “El Combo,” an MS-13 assassination squad, and faces four homicide charges in Honduras.
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Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, 33, aka “Fantasma,” was taken into custody in the Omaha area on immigration-related charges. Authorities said Soto is an MS-13 leader with close ties to other gang leaders. (Hall County Department of Corrections; Getty Images)
“The arrest of this MS-13 gang member wanted for murder in Honduras is just one example of the criminals President Trump has removed from Nebraska’s communities,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. “Radical Democrats allowed criminals to pour into our country, released them unvetted into American communities and now they want to abolish ICE.”
Officials say Cuadra Soto entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 via the southern border and later obtained a California driver’s license.
Honduran authorities suspect him in the July 2022 ambush near a Tegucigalpa nightclub that killed four men, including Said Lobo Bonilla, son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa.
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President Donald Trump is holding a rally Monday in Grand Island, Nebraska, the same town where Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, 33, known by the alias “Fantasma,” was captured last year. Soto is the alleged leader of an MS-13 assassination squad and is wanted for four murders in Honduras, including the 2022 killing of Said Lobo Bonilla, the son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa. (Getty Images; Department of Homeland Security)
According to an unsealed federal affidavit, Cuadra Soto fled Honduras after the killings. He and two co-defendants were initially released from local custody after paying $125,000 in bribes to government officials.
Bis argued that Democratic policies have hamstrung federal law enforcement, contrasting that with the administration’s approach. “In sharp contrast, President Trump supercharged law enforcement to arrest the worst of the worst,” Bis said, attributing the policies to significant drops in violent crime.
Sen. Pete Ricketts speaks during a “Federal Issues Forum” at the Nebraska State Fair, Aug. 31, 2026 in Grand Island, Nebraska. (Omaha World-Herald via Getty Images)
Ricketts, a former Nebraska governor, is seeking to hold his Senate seat against independent challenger Dan Osborn, who has drawn backing from state Democrats.
