The FBI announced Thursday that it had arrested the top leader of MS-13 on the East Coast of the United States.
The suspect, who is 24 years old, was caught in Woodbridge, Virginia, which is just south of Washington, D.C. The suspect’s name has not been made public yet, but the police say he is one of the three most important MS-13 gang leaders in the United States.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel watched the arrest from a tactical operations center close by. There was also Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and a top official from the DOJ named Emil Bove.
“Early this morning, one of the top leaders of MS-13 was apprehended. He was the leader for the East Coast, one of the top three in the entire country, right here in Virginia … He is an illegal alien from El Salvador — and he will not be living in our country much longer,” Bondi declared.
“They executed a clean, safe operation, and the bad guys in custody. And thanks to the FBI, we got one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning. Virginia and the country is a lot safer today,” Bondi said.
“From the second Donald Trump took office, he said he is going to make America safe. He shut down our borders and now it’s our job to get these people out of our country… We will not have another Laken Riley,” Bondi added.
“Arrests have increased 468% from the same period last year. We didn’t need new laws, as President Trump always says — we needed a new president,” she continued. “America is safer today because one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13, he is off the streets. This has been an ongoing directive of President Trump. His directive to me when I became Attorney General of the United States was very simple: Keep America safe.”
Patel said, “This task force is going to go everywhere as needed, across the United States to bring the form of justice and measured security and safety that our American citizens deserve… If you are going to continue to commit acts of violent crime, you will meet the same fate that this individual did this morning.”
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops and we’re going to continue to let good cops be cops across this country… We are returning our communities to safety,” Patel said.
Patel also praised law enforcement officers for conducting a safe operation.
“This is what can happen when you put good cops in good places to take on bad guys. And America should be watching this. And we are proud to be here standing with these brave warriors,” Patel said.
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Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Younkin praised the Trump administration.
“Thank you, and welcome to Virginia. What this task force over the course of the last four weeks represents is the model, the model of federal resources, stately resources, and local resources coming together in order to eradicate the drug and terrorist networks that exist,” Youngkin said.
“And I use the word terrorist because the illegal drug gangs, MS-13, Tren de Aragua, they are international terrorist organizations. And they are residents right here. They’re resident across the country. And it requires this kind of task force, this collaboration of Virginia resources, our great Virginia State Police, led by Colonel Hanley, our Department of Corrections, led by Judge Chad Dotson, along with our leadership at the administration level, led by Secretary Terry Cole, and our Attorney General, Jason Miyares, to come together with tremendous resources from the federal government. And systematically, over the last four weeks, we have gone to work, gone to work untangling, gone to work putting together the cases, and arresting these horrific criminals, these criminals that live in our neighborhoods,” he added.
“The arrest this morning was in Dale City, in Prince William County, right here in northern Virginia, one of the best areas in America. And it was one of the top leaders of MS-13 living here. An Illegal immigrant, and that Illegal immigrant’s going to go back to where he came from. But most importantly, it’s this effort that has been enabled by the Trump Administration. President Trump said, ‘Get the bad guys.’ I’ve been working on this literally for the first 3 years of our administration, with little to no help from the senior leadership in the federal government and the Biden Administration,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin added, “On day one, we went to work signing a 287G memorandum. It took us 20 hours to get it done. I was able to deputize our state police and our Department of Correction members to go to work in this task force. I want to thank General Bondi. From the second she — from the second she assumed her position, she was here with us. I want to thank Director Patel. From the second he assumed his position, he was here with us — resources, capabilities.”
“But I most importantly want to thank the men and women who every day put their lives on the line. These folks go to work with a bulletproof vest on, and they so rarely have anyone say, thank you. And today, they deserve a huge thank you. But they deserve a thank you every single day. Over the last four weeks, 340 horrific criminals have been arrested here in Northern Virginia,” he said.
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