Politics

NEW: Kash Patel Notches First Major Accomplishment As FBI Director

Published

4 days ago

March 27, 2025

The Trump administration touted the arrest of a major domestic terrorist on Wednesday, notching a significant early victory for Kash Patel, the president’s newly installed FBI director.

In a press conference, officials announced the arrest of an MS-13 gang leader described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as the “worst of the worst.” The gang, founded in Los Angeles, has become a central focus of federal efforts to combat drug, gun, and human trafficking.

The 24-year-old suspect, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, just south of Washington, D.C. Although details are scant, authorities say he is one of the nationwide gang’s top three leaders.

Both Bondi and Patel were on site watching the operation unfold from a tactical post just hundreds of yards away. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and senior DOJ official Emil Bove were also present, according to Fox News.

“They executed a clean, safe operation and the bad guys are in custody. 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,” Bondi told Fox News following the arrest.

In a sign of the cooperation enjoyed by Patel’s FBI, other agencies participating in the raid included the Prince William County Police Department, ATF, ICE, and the Virginia State Police.

Patel praised his fellow local and state agents for their professionalism and risking their lives to take a notorious gang leader off the streets for good.

“This is what can happen when you put good cops in good places to take on bad guys. And America should be watching this. And we are proud to be here standing with these brave warriors,” Patel said.

Several of the gang’s top leaders have already been shipped to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has agreed to imprison hundreds of individuals affiliated with MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, the violent Venezuelan gang infamously responsible for taking over several apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado.

In the past two months, the FBI has arrested three individuals on its top 10 most wanted list.

“President Trump’s directive to me when I became Attorney General was to keep America safe, and make America safe again,” AG Bondi said in announcing the gang leader’s arrest.

“We didn’t need new laws, as President Trump said, we needed a new President.”

Bondi also shared that recent joint activities by federal agencies, including ICE, have resulted in the removal of more than 340 criminals from Virginia in recent days.

“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,” Patel said.

President Trump singled out White House border czar Tom Homan for assisting in locating the suspect.

“Just captured a major leader of MS13. Tom HOMAN is a superstar!” he wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning.

“This is a massive victory for a safer America. Justice is coming,” Patel wrote in his own social media post.