FBI Applauds Mexico's Arrest And Handover Of '10 Most Wanted' Gang Figure

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. Mexico’s security chief Omar García Harfuch applauded the arrest. 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.