A violent MS-13 kingpin has been arrested in Virginia, the Trump administration revealed.
The 24-year-old suspect from El Salvador was apprehended in Dale City, suburban community half an hour outside of Washington, D.C early on Thursday.
The authorities have not released his name, but said he is one of three top US bosses of the bloodthirsty MS-13 gang.
‘Just captured a major leader of MS13. Tom HOMAN is a superstar!’ President Donald Trump wrote of his border czar on Truth Social shortly after the news broke.
The suspect is believed to be a captain of the East Coast for the notorious international crime gang.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel oversaw the operation, which was a joint endeavor between the Prince William County Police Department, ATF, ICE and the Virginia State Police.
‘They executed a clean, safe operation and the bad guys in custody,’ Bondi told Fox following the arrest.
‘And thanks to the FBI, we got one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning. Virginia and the country is a lot safer today.’
An MS-13 kingpin has been arrested in Virginia, the Trump administration revealed. Pictured: Attorney General Pam Bondi on site with the taskforce responsible for capturing the suspect
Attorney General Pam Bondi (pictured) and FBI Director Kash Patel oversaw the operation
At a press conference, she told reporters the suspect was ‘very dangerous’ and had been recruited by MS-13 when he was ‘very young’ before rising through the ranks.
She took to X to share a photo of her with agents amid the arrest, vowing that the, ‘DOJ will not rest until we make America safe again’.
The taskforce has been working together for the last four weeks, according to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
He said that many of his constituents would be surprised to learn that the alleged gangster had been living in the leafy Woodbridge community.
‘They are resident right here and they are resident across the country,’ Youngkin said of MS-13 and Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
‘Systematically over the last four weeks we have gone to work untangling, putting together the cases and arresting these horrific criminals.
‘The arrest this morning was in Dale City, northern Virginia, one of the best areas in America and it was one of the top leaders of MS-13 living here, an illegal immigrant. And that illegal immigrant is going back to where he came from.’
MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, was one of eight Latin American criminal organizations declared foreign terrorist organizations by the US government last month.
The gang was formed by Salvadoran immigrants who arrived in the US after fleeing their home country due to civil war.
‘The gang is well-organized and is heavily involved in lucrative illegal enterprises, being notorious for its use of violence to achieve its objectives,’ the Department of Justice states in its description of the gang.
The 24-year-old suspect was apprehended in Woodbridge, south of Washington, D.C on Thursday
The authorities have not released his name, but said the suspect is one of three top US bosses of the bloodthirsty MS-13 gang
‘This what happens when you let good cops, be cops,’ Patel told a press conference shortly after the raid.
The latest arrest comes after another alleged senior MS-13 leader, Francisco Javier Román Bardales, was apprehended by Mexican authorities earlier this month.
He faces charges related to violent crime, drug distribution and extortion in the Eastern District of New York.
His arrest 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.
The acting head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Derek Maltz, reportedly provided the White House with a list of nearly 30 Mexican targets wanted in the US on criminal charges.
Meanwhile El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has agreed to accept Salvadoran MS-13 gang members who unlawfully entered the US as part of President Trump’s mass deportation plan.
At least 23 MS-13 members were deported back to El Salvador earlier this month after the Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
The legislation was used to swiftly deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, attempting to speed up removals with a law best known for its use to intern Japanese, Italian and German immigrants during World War Two.
MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, was one of eight Latin American criminal organizations declared foreign terrorist organizations by the US government last month
Reports soon emerged of noncitizens with no gang affiliations being rounded up and placed on deportation flights.
On Wednesday the courts upheld a lower court’s temporary block on removals being carried out under the 18th century law.
The ensuing legal battle over the move has highlighted Trump’s attempts to strong-arm the federal judiciary, a coequal branch of government that serves as a check on executive power.
This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates…
