Alleged MS-13 leader on FBI most wanted list being extradited to US, Patel says

An alleged MS-13 senior gang leader on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list is being extradited to the U.S. after his arrest in Mexico, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday. 

Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales was arrested on Monday in the mountains of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz by Mexican soldiers and federal agents. The FBI was offering a $250,000 reward for information on Bardales prior to his arrest.

"I can now confirm that last night, working with the Justice Department and other interagency partners, the FBI has extradited one of our 'Ten Most Wanted' from Mexico — one we believe to be a key senior leader of MS-13, Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales," Patel announced in a statement.

"He was arrested in Mexico and is being transported within the U.S. as we speak, where he will face American justice. This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America. Thank you to our brave personnel for executing the mission. And thank you to Mexico’s SSPC and FGE teams for their support of the FBI in this investigation and arrest," he added.

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Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales is in the custody of Mexican authorities. (Mexican law enforcement)

The FBI said Bardales faces charges in the Eastern District of New York relating to "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." 

The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was one of eight Latin American criminal organizations declared foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration last month. 

Bardales' transfer comes nearly a month after Mexican authorities extradited another drug cartel member to the U.S. in late February. Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, 39, faces charges relating to drug trafficking in New York City for the H-2 cartel, according to federal prosecutors.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the extradition of an alleged senior MS-13 leader on Tuesday. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last year that the U.S. is facing the "most dangerous and deadly drug crisis" in its history with fentanyl and methamphetamine flowing across the border — and that the "Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels are at the heart of this crisis." 

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Prosecutors allege that under the direction of Sanchez, H-2 transported cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the U.S. on a monthly basis from June 2013 to December 2016. The cartel used multiple distribution cells throughout the country, including New York, Las Vegas, North Carolina, Ohio and Los Angeles, to traffic "large quantities" of drugs, officials said.

A National Guard officer monitors the border wall between Mexico and the United States on Feb. 5, 2025, in Tijuana, Mexico. (Francisco Vega/Getty Images)

"As alleged in the indictment and court filings, Sanchez was one of the principal leaders of the H-2 Drug Trafficking Organization, a brutally violent transnational criminal organization that flooded American streets with dangerous drugs and protected its operations through murder and corruption," U.S. Attorney John Durham said.

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Sanchez also directed members of the cartel to kill members of other drug trafficking organizations and additional perceived rivals, according to prosecutors. 

Monday's arrest and swift handover came just weeks after Mexico handed over 29 drug cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was allegedly behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985.

Mexico has also stepped up operations against the Sinaloa Cartel, a main trafficker of fentanyl to the United States. President Claudia Sheinbaum has worked to show President Donald Trump that Mexico is a reliable partner on security and immigration. The results have so far kept most of Trump’s tariffs at bay.

The Trump administration sent two other top members of MS-13 to El Salvador over the weekend, along with hundreds of Venezuelans. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.