OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:20 PM – Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Francisco Javier Román-Bardales, a suspected MS-13 gang boss and one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives — has reportedly been taken into custody by Mexican authorities.
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The attorney general, the Ministry of National Defense, and the National Guard issued a joint statement announcing Román-Bardales’ arrest on the Teocelo-Baxtla highway in Veracruz.
“He was informed of the reason for his arrest, his legal rights were read to him, and he will be transferred to Mexico City, before the corresponding authority, and subsequently deported to the United States, where he is wanted,” the statement noted.
The FBI stated that Román-Bardales was responsible for overseeing the criminal organization’s operations in the U.S., Mexico, and his native El Salvador.
Additionally, he is also accused of ordering “numerous acts of violence against civilians and rival gang members, as well as his role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador.”
In the U.S., Román-Bardales had been charged with “conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorist conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to traffic aliens.”
The FBI had offered a reward of $250,000 for information leading to his capture.
Along with other criminal organizations, the Los Angeles-based MS-13 has been classified as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration.
Designating cartels as terrorist organizations, according to some current and former officials, will pave the way for direct U.S. strikes against the cartels and their drug operations in Mexico.
“Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales is wanted for his alleged involvement in the direction of MS-13 activity in the United States, Mexico, and El Salvador. He is alleged to be a senior leader of MS-13. Roman-Bardales has been charged with several offenses for his alleged role in ordering numerous acts of violence against civilians and rival gang members, as well as his role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Roman-Bardales in the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, Central Islip, New York, on September 22, 2022, after he was charged with Conspiracy to Provide and Conceal Material Support and Resources to Terrorists; Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy; Racketeering Conspiracy; and Alien Smuggling Conspiracy,” the FBI stated previously.
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