Case File / Vampiro

Vladimir Antonio Arévalo Chávez, alias Vampiro de Monserrat

Name	Vladimir Antonio Arévalo Chávez.
Alias	Vampiro, Chacal, or Vladi
Date of birth	30-10-1975
Place of birth	La Libertad, El Salvador
Age	50
Status	Imprisoned in the United States
Joined the gang	1990s
Clique	Monserrat Little Criminals Locos Salvatrucha
Program	Centro Program
Joined in	El Salvador

Monday, September 15th, 2025

Carlos García

Vampiro is an old gang member without much relevance within Mara Salvatrucha-13. He is not part of the Ranfla Nacional, but he served as a “palabrero” for his clique in San Salvador. U.S. authorities accuse him of having become one of the leaders of the Mexico Program. There is very little information about him, but his case gained prominence after the Eastern District of New York requested that charges against him be dropped so he could be deported to El Salvador. A fierce legal battle is currently being waged by his defense attorneys, who accuse the U.S. government of helping Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele hide his deals with Mara Salvatrucha-13. The case has become so complex that the judge has demanded an explanation from the U.S. government about the agreements between Trump and Bukele.

Territorial influence:	Monserrat, Luz, Monte Carmelo, La Pedrera, and San Mateo neighborhoods, all in San Salvador.
Fought in Salvadoran civil war:	Unknown
Negotiator with Salvadoran government in 2012?:	No
Sanctioned by U.S. Treasury?:	No
Was on El Salvador’s 100 Most Wanted list?:	No
Private hospital visits from prison under Bukele administration?:	No
Date of extradition request:	Not applicable
Court handling extradition:	Not applicable
Interpol red notice?:	Yes
Pending indictment:	United States vs Vladimir Antonio Arevalo-Chavez, also known as “Vampiro de Monserrat Criminales”; CR 22_429, Eastern District Court of New York.

Record in El Salvador:	2002, Illegal possession, carrying, and use of firearms and manslaughter 2003, Illegal trade, trafficking, and storage 2010, Trafficking of prohibited items in prisons and illegal groups 2017, Terrorist organizations and aggravated homicide 2019, Terrorist organizations 2020, Illegal groups 2023, Illegal groups
Record in United States:	No
Accusations in United States:	2022, Unlawful association for organized crime 2022, Conspiracy to provide and conceal material support for terrorists 2022, Conspiracy for narco-terrorism
Status of pending case in U.S.:	The Eastern District of New York has made a pending request that charges be dropped without prejudice, to allow his deportation to El Salvador, alleging “U.S. geopolitical and national security concerns”. But the defense questioned the prosecutors’ stated motive to dismiss the case and argued that the lack of due process under the state of exception and reports of in-custody deaths and torture in prison are grounds for him not to be deported. As opposed to the case of Greñas, who was summarily deported in March, these unresolved legal questions have stalled the process, which will play out over the coming months.
Tattoos:	Unknown

More information:

On February 14, 2002, he was imprisoned in the Ciudad Barrios prison for possession of weapons and was sentenced to nine years, according to a criminal profile conducted by the Joint Border Intelligence Group (GCIF).
Inside the Ciudad Barrios prison, he was considered one of the “shouters,” those in charge of warning other inmates with shouts when a lawyer came to visit, says a former member of the Sailors West Side Locos clique nicknamed Demon.
On March 21, 2011, Vampiro was released on parole, according to a GCIF file.
Gang members from the Monserrat Locos clique, who were collaborating with the Salvadoran police, accused Vampiro of distributing cocaine in the San Mateo neighborhood, according to the Monserrat Case.
On September 30, 2014, 20-year-old Emerson Gabriel Sánchez Carrillo was found with his throat slit in downtown San Salvador, according to the PNC-Metropolitan Region. Vampiro was the alleged murderer, according to the arrest warrant issued by the Fifth Court Against Organized Crime.
Between 2015 and 2016, “he left El Salvador because the ‘Héroe Azul’ page [administered by police officers] posted a photo of him with his wife and wrote, ‘This is the rat running around Monserrat, find him and exterminate him,’” said a veteran member of the Hollywood Locos gang with whom he lived in Celaya, Guanajuato, and who is currently in California. Vampiro lived with his partner Darky. This source asserts that Vampiro intended to reach the United States, but he saw an opportunity to make money and stayed in that city.
In 2016, he lived in Celaya with his partner and children, according to the letter he sent to Judge Azrack on June 30, 2025.
On June 26, 2017, the Specialized Court of Instruction B of San Salvador requested his arrest for two homicides and described him as a “palabrero” (gang leader), as recorded in an official letter from that court.
In 2018, the Elite Division Against Organized Crime (DECO) investigated him but was unable to capture him, as noted in a report by the Central Unit for Analysis and Information Processing.
On May 29, 2018, the Specialized Court of Instruction B ordered his arrest, as stated in the order itself.
On February 19, 2019, Interpol El Salvador issued a Red Notice for his arrest.
On September 22, 2022, the indictment by the Eastern District Court of New York identified him as “the Corredor of the San Salvador program (Centro Program),” “participating in negotiations with the government” of Bukele, and having arrived in Mexico and established himself as the leader of the Mexico Program.
On February 22, 2023, he was captured in Mexico along with Marlon Antonio Menjívar Portillo, alias Rojo, and Walter Geovany Hernández Rivera, alias Baxter, in the state of Guanajuato, and immediately sent to Texas to be transferred to New York the following day, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
On February 23, he was formally arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, and captured by agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. He arrived with Walter Yovany Hernández Rivera, alias Baxter, and Marlon Antonio Menjivar Portillo, alias Rojo, to be taken that same afternoon to the Southern District Court of Texas, according to the Eastern District of New York.
On March 14, 2023, at 4:50 p.m., he arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to his letter, and was placed in a segregated cell from where he was allowed to make one phone call per week. On March 15, he appeared for the first time before Judge Jamez M. Wicks of the New York Court, along with Rojo and Baxter, according to his letter. Some time later, he was assigned a lawyer, Sabrina P. Shroff.
On January 4, 2024, the Fifth Court Against Organized Crime of El Salvador sentenced him to five years in prison in absentia, according to court records.
On February 28, 2024, a hearing was held in the Southern District Court of Texas, and his transfer to New York was ordered, according to the document of that proceeding.On February 6, 2025, Judge Joan M. Azrack requested the death penalty for Vampiro, should he be found guilty.
On January 6, 2025, the same Fifth Court Against Organized Crime of El Salvador again ordered his arrest.On April 1, 2025, Vampiro appeared alongside Francisco Javier Román Bardales, alias Veterano, and José Wilfredo Ayala Alcántara, alias Indio, at a hearing, and all three waived their right to a speedy trial. Later, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John J. Durham, requested in a confidential letter to dismiss without prejudice the indictment “only” against Vampiro, pursuant to Rule 48 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, citing “U.S. geopolitical and national security concerns, and the sovereign authority of the Executive Branch in international affairs,” so that “El Salvador can proceed first with its criminal charges against the defendant under Salvadoran law.”