Mexico arrests alleged MS-13 leader on FBI’s most wanted list

<i>FBI via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Mexican authorities say they have arrested Francisco Javier Román-Bardales

By CNN Newsource

Published March 17, 2025 4:48 pm

By Daniela Patiño and Marlon Sorto, CNN en Español

(CNN) — Mexican authorities say they have arrested Francisco Javier Román-Bardales, an alleged leader of the MS-13 gang who is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Román-Bardales was arrested on the Teocelo-Baxtla highway in Veracruz, according to a joint statement from the Attorney General, the Ministry of National Defense, and the National Guard.

“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 added.

CNN has reached out to Mexican authorities for more information, including whether the detainee has legal representation.

Asked for comment on the arrest and whether it was done at the request of the Trump administration, the FBI told CNN that it “does not have a comment at this time.”

According to the FBI, Román-Bardales was allegedly involved in directing the criminal group’s activities in the United States, Mexico and El Salvador, where he is originally from.

He is also accused of having ordered “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.”

Román-Bardales has been charged in the US with “conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorist conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to traffic aliens.”

A $250,000 reward had been offered for information leading to his arrest, according to the FBI.

The Trump administration has designated MS-13, which originated in Los Angeles, as a terrorist organization, along with other criminal groups.

Some current and former officials say designating cartels as terrorist groups could potentially lay the groundwork for direct US strikes against the cartels and their drug labs in Mexico.

CNN’s Katherine Dautrich contributed to this report.