Mexico hands over one of FBI's 'most wanted' criminals, a key MS-13 senior leader

Mexican authorities handed over to america an alleged senior chief of the worldwide prison MS-13 gang on the FBI’s “Ten Most Needed” checklist, the third suspect on the checklist arrested for the reason that begin of President Donald Trump’s second administration.

The fugitive, Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, was needed for his alleged involvement in directing gang exercise in america, Mexico and El Salvador, in accordance with the company. He’s additionally identified by the alias “Veterano de Tribus” (Veteran of Tribes). 

Prosecutors say Roman-Bardales performed a task in ordering a number of acts of violence in opposition to civilians and rival gang members and was concerned in distributing medicine and extortion crimes in america. 

FBI Director Kash Patel referred to as the arrest “a serious victory each for our regulation enforcement companions and for a safer America.”

“Thanks to our courageous personnel for executing the mission,” Patel acknowledged in a Tuesday social media publish. “And thanks to Mexico’s SSPC and FGE groups for his or her assist of the FBI on this investigation and arrest.”

Members of the Protection Ministry, Navy, Lawyer Basic’s Workplace, Nationwide Guard and the Secretariat of Safety and Citizen Safety launched a joint assertion on Monday saying the 47-year-old Roman-Bardales’ arrest on the Teocelo-Baxtla freeway because of worldwide cooperation efforts. 

Investigators found that Román-Bardales was working out of Baxtla, and groups have been created to hold out “mounted, cellular, and discreet surveillance” earlier than the arrest. 

“The topic was knowledgeable of the explanation for his arrest, learn his authorized rights, and might be transferred to Mexico Metropolis, the place he might be taken to the suitable authority, the place he’ll subsequently be deported to america the place he’s needed,” the assertion reads. 

Prosecutors within the Japanese District of New York issued a federal arrest warrant for Roman-Bardales on Sept. 22, 2022, after he was charged with conspiracy to offer and conceal materials assist and assets to terrorists. The opposite costs included narco-terrorist conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and alien smuggling conspiracy, in accordance with the FBI. 

Authorities imagine that Roman-Bardles is a key senior member of MS-13, also called Mara Salvatrucha 13, a gang identified for committing transnational crimes. In response to the U.S. Division of Justice, the gang was fashioned by Salvadoran immigrants who got here to america to flee a conflict of their residence nation. 

The division warns that MS-13 is “well-organized and is closely concerned in profitable unlawful enterprises, being infamous for its use of violence to attain its goals.”

In January, three members of MS-13 pleaded responsible to a number of crimes, together with 9 murders dedicated on Lengthy Island, New York, between 2016 and 2017. Prosecutors say a number of the crimes have been “savagely dedicated with machetes and weapons” on behalf of the MS-13.

In February, a Salvadoran nationwide and MS-13 member was sentenced to 50 years in jail for his connection to the gang’s prison enterprise, together with three murders. 

On Wednesday, the White Home stated Roman-Bardales is the third prison on the FBI’s “Ten Most Needed” checklist apprehended for the reason that begin of the Trump administration. 

The White Home assertion highlighted the arrest of Arnoldo Jimenez on Jan. 30, who was needed for first-degree homicide costs. One other fugitive needed on little one intercourse trafficking and little one rape costs, Donald Eugene Fields II, was additionally arrested on Jan. 25. 

“The Trump Administration will cease at nothing to maintain the American folks secure,” the White Home declared in its assertion this week. 

Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi introduced on Feb. 27 that Mexico extradited 29 fugitive cartel members to america, with their crimes starting from racketeering, drug trafficking, homicide and cash laundering. 

“As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist teams, and this Division of Justice is dedicated to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” Bondi acknowledged. 

“We’ll prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the regulation in honor of the courageous regulation enforcement brokers who’ve devoted their careers — and in some circumstances, given their lives — to guard harmless folks from the scourge of violent cartels. We won’t relaxation till we safe justice for the American folks.”