FBI applauds Mexico's arrest and handover of '10 Most Wanted' gang figure

MEXICO CITY —

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.

"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.