FBI applauds Mexico's arrest and handover of '10 Most Wanted' gang
figure
[March 19, 2025]
MEXICO CITY (AP) — FBI
Director Kash Patel applauded Mexican authorities Tuesday for the arrest
and handover of one of the FBI's “Ten Most Wanted” suspects, an alleged
gang leader from El Salvador.
Francisco Javier Román Bardales is allegedly a senior leader of the Mara
Salvatrucha or MS-13 gang. He was arrested Monday in the mountains of
the Gulf coast state of Veracruz by soldiers and federal agents. |
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a ceremony to raise the Hostage
and Wrongful Detainee flag at the State Department, Thursday, March 6,
2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) |
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"This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners
and for a safer America," Patel wrote.
Mexico’s security chief Omar García Harfuch applauded the arrest
Monday, which his agency said was the result of international
cooperation. The agency referred to his handover as a
deportation to the United States.
Román Bardales faces charges related to violent crime, drug
distribution and extortion in the Eastern District of New York.
The Mara Salvatrucha was one of eight Latin American criminal
organizations declared foreign terrorist organizations by the
U.S. government last month.
FBI Director Kash Patel said via X Tuesday that Roman Bardales
was being transported within the U.S. He thanked Mexican
authorities for their support.
The arrest and swift handover came just weeks after Mexico
handed over 29 drug cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael
Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in
1985.
Mexico has also stepped up operations against the Sinaloa
cartel, a main trafficker of fentanyl to the United States.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has worked to show U.S. President
Donald Trump that Mexico is a reliable partner on security and
immigration. The results have so far kept most of Trump’s
tariffs at bay.
The Trump administration sent two other top members of MS-13 to
El Salvador over the weekend, along with hundreds of Venezuelan
immigrants.
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