(NewsNation) — The FBI has extradited one of the agency’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” from Mexico, Director Kash Patel announced on social media.
The agency said Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales is believed to be a key senior member of Mara Salvatrucha, aka MS-13.
According to the agency, Roman-Bardales is accused of acts of violence against rival gang members and civilians. He is also accused of having played a role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador.
Roman-Bardales was arrested in Mexico and is being transported to the United States to be charged in the American justice system.
“This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America,” Patel said.
The arrest comes as the Trump administration has focused on cracking down on immigration and drug trafficking across the southern border.
What is MS-13?
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, MS-13 was created by Salvadoran immigrants who came to the country to escape a civil war. The department said MS-13 is “well-organized and is heavily involved in lucrative illegal enterprises, being notorious for its use of violence to achieve its objectives.”
Members of MS-13 have allegedly been involved in rapes and witness intimidation. The group has also been known to “participate in numerous transnational crimes,” according to the DOJ. The department claimed they also participate in weapon smuggling and illegal firearm sales.
DURHAM, NC – JANUARY 23: Cholo, shows off his gang tattoos and MS-13 hand signs on January 23, 2006 in Durham, North Carolina. Using his street name, Cholo, an American-born citizen of Salvadoran heritage, is a member of Mara Salvatrucha-13, the violent street gang formed by refugees of El Salvador who fled the country’s 1980’s – 90’s civil war and settled in Los Angeles, California. He was charged in August, 2005 for assault with a deadly weapon after shooting a rival gang member. Cholo came to Durham, North Carolina with his mother, older brother and sister in the early 1990’s. Cholo is a member of a MS-13 subset called VLS or Venice Locos Salvatrucha. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images) 
DURHAM, NC – JANUARY 23: Snoopy, 20 years, shows off his gang tattoos on January 23, 2006 in Durham, North Carolina. Going by his street name, Snoopy, an American-born citizen of El Salvadoran heritage, is a member of Mara Salvatrucha-13, the violent street gang formed by refugees of El Salvador who fled the country’s 1980’s – 90’s civil war and settled in Los Angeles, California. He joined MS-13 in California when he was 13 years. Snoopy came to Durham, North Carolina with his mother, younger brother and sister looking for work. Snoopy works at a Durham fast food restaurant and is often harassed by police for his gang tattoos. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – Members of the criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) are escorted by officers of the National Police in Tegucigalpa on February 19, 2021, after the dismantling of an operations centre of the organisation found in the mountains of the department of Olancho, north of Honduras. (Photo by Orlando SIERRA / AFP) (Photo by ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images) 
SAN VICENTE, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 6: Inmates are seen in cells at CECOT in Tecoluca on February 6, 2024 in San Vicente, El Salvador. On February of 2023 El Salvador inaugurated Latin America’s largest prison as part of President Nayib Bukele’s plan to fight gangs. Since then, the UN and NGOs have raised concern about the treatment of inmates, minors being held and suspects incarcerated as gang members without sufficient proof. Meanwhile, Bukele claims El Salvador’s murder rate has fallen from the world’s highest to the lowest in the Western Hemisphere. (Photo by Alex Peña/Getty Images) 
In this handout photo provided by the Salvadoran government, guards escort a newly admitted inmate allegedly linked to criminal organizations inside a cell on March 16 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. 
Inmates look on as they remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, in Tecoluca, El Salvador on January 27, 2025. The CECOT, the largest prison in Latin America and emblem of the war against gangs of the government of President Nayib Bukele, celebrates two years since it was inaugurated on February 1. (Photo by Marvin RECINOS / AFP) (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)
“They are believed to be a major retail distributor of drugs in Houston. … There have also been reports of MS-13’s involvement in human smuggling,” the DOJ said.
The FBI created the MS-13 National Gang Task Force in 2004 to help local and state law enforcement agencies dismantle the gang. They have also worked on deporting members of the gang.