Francisco Javier Román-Bardales, an alleged senior leader of the MS-13 gang whose name was on the list of Trump’s FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted,” was arrested with the help of the Mexican government, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Román-Bardales is being extradited to the United States, Patel added. He was wanted “for his alleged role in ordering numerous acts of violence against civilians and rival gang members, as well as his role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador.”
In a post on X, Patel dubbed the arrest “a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America.”
According to a joint statement from the Attorney General, the Ministry of National Defense, and the National Guard, [47-year-old Román-Bardales, known as Veterano de Tribus] was informed of the reason for his arrest, his legal rights were read to him, and he will be transferred to Mexico City, before the corresponding authority, and subsequently deported to the United States, where he is wanted.”
He has been charged in the US with “conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorist conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to traffic aliens,” according to the CNN.
The Trump administration labeled MS-13, founded in Los Angeles, a terrorist organization, along with other gangs.
Certain officials, both current and former, believe that treating cartels as terrorist organizations could justify direct US intervention against them and their drug production sites in Mexico.
Since President Trump took office, law enforcement has carried out major arrests of gang members. On January 30, 2025, Arnoldo Jimenez, a fugitive wanted on first-degree murder charges, was taken into custody.
On January 25, 2025, Donald Eugene Fields II, wanted on suspicion of child rape and child sex trafficking, was also taken into custody.
Since 2009, the Eastern District of New York has prosecuted hundreds of MS-13 members linked to over 80 murders. Much of the gang’s profits used to support its violent operations in El Salvador came from drug trafficking.
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