Alleged Chicago Gang Leader Offered Bounty to Kill Border Patrol Commander, Federal Officials Say

Federal agents in Chicago on Monday arrested a suspected Latin Kings leader accused of offering cash bounties to capture and kill a senior immigration officer working with “Operation Midway Blitz.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois unsealed a criminal complaint Monday charging 37-year-old Chicago resident Juan Espinoza Martinez with a single count of murder for hire. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the official Martinez allegedly placed a bounty on as Commander at Large of the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.

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U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros called the alleged plot “an attack on the rule of law.”

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According to the complaint, Martinez is a ranking member of the Latin Kings, a gang notorious for violent crimes and drug trafficking across Chicago. DHS said Martinez is from Mexico and entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown date and time.

The complaint alleges Martinez sent Snapchat messages that read, “2k on information when you get him” and “10k if you take him down.”

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The complaint says a confidential source told investigators that after a police-involved shooting on Oct. 4, 2025, involving Border Patrol agents in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, Martinez sent Latin Kings members to 39th and Kedzie in response.

The source said Martinez ordered members to obtain firearms and patrol the area around 26th Street and South Drake Avenue to defend Latin Kings territory.

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The arrest followed a violent weekend in Chicago marked by multiple shootings and clashes with law enforcement.

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