A suspected member of Buffalo's "Seventh Street Gang" who allegedly murdered a rival gang member more than two years ago on the city's West Side was captured Friday morning in Springfield, Mass., authorities reported.

Esteban Ramos-Cruz, 25, also known as "Rudolpho," was wanted in connection with the August 2009 shooting death of Eric Morrow, 21, of Kamper Street, who belonged to the "Tenth Street Gang." Ramos-Cruz was featured three weeks ago on "America's Most Wanted."

The arrest occurred about 8 a.m. in the South End of Springfield by authorities including the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, U.S. Marshals and Springfield Police, according to a report Friday by the Springfield Republican. Members of the FBI's Buffalo field office determined Ramos-Cruz may have been hiding out in the Massachusetts city.

Ramos-Cruz was named last April along with nearly three dozen others in a federal indictment designed to crack down on the two rival street gangs.

Six members of the Seventh Street Gang — including Ramos-Cruz — and 29 associated with the Tenth Street Gang were charged in the indictment. A round-up of multiple members of the gangs occurred last May 5 by the Buffalo FBI's Safe Streets Task Force.

That's when Ramos-Cruz "fled and remained an armed and dangerous fugitive until his capture this morning," the Buffalo FBI said Friday.

Ramos-Cruz was wanted for charges of murder in the aid of racketeering; the use, carrying and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence; possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime; possession of firearms in furtherance of drug-trafficking; and narcotics conspiracy.

He and three others — Efrain Hidalgo, Kasiem Williams and Juan "Puchongo" Torres — were implicated in Morrow's slaying. Morrow was shot in the chest and leg while standing near an Auburn Avenue home.

Hidalgo was captured last June in Puerto Rico. Williams is currently serving up to 25 years in prison for manslaughter in the drug-related June 2010 shooting death of Virgil Page, 32.

Ramos-Cruz is no stranger to law enforcement. In May 2010, he and others were arrested on burglary and grand larceny charges in connection with a nighttime burglary in the Wyoming County town of Bennington, where three four-wheelers and a dirt bike were stolen.

"America's Most Wanted" posted a bright red bar Friday under Ramos-Cruz's picture on the show's website, officially listing him as "captured."

Local FBI officials confirmed Friday they received a tip from a viewer of the television show "who relayed information that placed Ramos-Cruz in the Springfield, Mass., area." Further investigation by Buffalo FBI agents led authorities to Ramos-Cruz's specific location.

tpignataro@buffnews.comnull