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While he was in jail awaiting trial, René Pacheco was visited by a Canada border agent and, for whatever reason, bragged to him of his ties to MS-13, a notorious crime gang.

He showed the agent a tattoo of the number 13 on the back of his left hand. He gave a colourful account of enduring a 13-second beating as an initiation rite and how the 10 to 20 members his Toronto chapter, known as a clique, controlled territory in the Jane and Sheppard area of the city.

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For the El Salvadoran man who has lived in Canada for 20 years, his braggadocio meant a move by the Canada Border Services Agency to deport him for membership in a criminal organization.

Photo by Marvin RECINOS/AFP/Getty Images

At a hearing in front of the Immigration and Refugee Board last year, Pacheco, 26, changed his story. He said the “13” tattoo was just his “lucky number” and any talk of gangs was fuelled by drugs and a compulsion to lie to make him seem more powerful.

A Federal Court of Canada judge rejected the new version of his life story last week, moving Pacheco closer to a return to El Salvador. He is a permanent resident of Canada but not a Canadian citizen, according to IRB records.