FBI Captures Third Most Wanted Fugitive Since Jan. 20, Patel Reveals

Kash Patel, director of the FBI, said that since Donald Trump was elected president, the FBI has arrested its third most wanted fugitive.

Patel wrote on Tuesday night on social media platform X that it was “not by accident” that the Bureau had captured its third fugitive since January 20.

The FBI Director framed the arrest in terms of a collaborative effort between his agency, the Justice Department, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Patel wrote: “This is what happens when you let good police be good cops. This administration will not stop giving AG Bondi and the new FBI the resources they need to do their jobs.”

Patel didn’t provide any information on this latest arrest, but his post on social media came just hours after he had announced the arrest and subsequent detention of Francisco Javier Roman Bardales, an alleged MS-13 leader who was wanted by authorities for allegedly leading the gang’s activities in the United States.

Bardales, who was arrested in Mexico on Sunday, will reportedly be extradited to the U.S. The FBI offered a reward of $250,000 for information that led to his capture.

Patel stated in a post on X, “I am now able to confirm that, last night, the FBI, along with other interagency and Justice Department partners, extradited from Mexico one of our ten most wanted” — who we believe is a senior leader for MS-13. Francisco Javier Roman Bardales. This is an important victory for both our law enforcement colleagues and a safer America.”

Newsweek reported that the Mexican government announced Bardales’ arrest on Monday. He was apprehended reportedly during an operation conducted in the mountains near Veracruz.

Bardales was arrested and extradited to the United States just weeks after Mexico had arrested and handed over more than 29 cartel leaders, including Rafael Caro Quintero who is accused of orchestrating the 1985 murder of an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Trump administration designated eight Latin American criminal organizations as foreign terrorist groups last month. MS-13 is among them.