FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the bureau has apprehended its third most wanted fugitive since President Donald Trump took office. In a Tuesday night post on X, Patel stressed that capturing a third fugitive from the “Ten Most Wanted” list since January 20 was no coincidence. He attributed the arrest to a collaborative effort between the FBI and the Justice Department under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“When you let good cops be good cops, this is what happens,” Patel wrote. “This administration is giving the new FBI and AG Bondi the resources to get the job done — and we won’t stop.” While Patel did not share specific details about the latest arrest, his social media post followed just hours after announcing the capture of alleged MS-13 senior leader Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, who was sought for allegedly directing the gang’s operations in the United States, Mexico, and El Salvador.
Bardales was arrested in Mexico on Monday and will be extradited to the U.S. The FBI had offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to his capture. “I can now confirm that last night, working with the Justice Department and other interagency partners, the FBI has extradited one of our ‘Ten Most Wanted’ from Mexico — one we believe to be a key senior leader of MS-13, Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales,” Patel said in a statement posted on X. “This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America.”
The Mexican government announced Bardales’ arrest on Monday, according to Newsweek. He was reportedly apprehended during an operation in the Veracruz mountains. Bardales’ detention and extradition reportedly occurred just weeks after Mexico arrested and handed over more than 29 cartel figures to the United States.
This group included drug kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, who is alleged to have orchestrated the murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent in 1985. MS-13 is one of eight Latin American criminal organizations that the Trump administration designated as foreign terrorist organizations last month.