ALEXANDRIA - A Salvadoran MS-13 gang member, wanted in his home country on multiple murder charges and present in the U.S. illegally, was removed from the country Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to Homeland Security, 42-year-old Cesar Amauri Cruz-Marin was previously removed from the United States back in November of 2009. Salvadoran authorities said, after his return to El Savador, Cruz shot three men in December 2010 and then fled the country. He fled to the United States at an unknown time and was arrested by a U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force in Tennessee in October 2014.

After his arrest, Cruz was prosecuted on a felony charge of illegally re-entering the United States. He was convicted in U.S. District Court in Tennessee in May, and was transferred into ICE custody in August after his release from federal prison.

Officers removed Cruz Friday via an ICE Air charter flight out of Alexandria to Comalapa, El Salvador. Once there, he was transferred into Salvadoran law enforcement custody.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to focus its removal resources on violent criminals and other high-priority aliens who pose the greatest threat to our communities," said ERO New Orleans Field Office Director David Rivera.