FBI Director Kash Patel announced the first major arrest since he was sworn in to lead the bureau.
Patel took to X on Monday night to announce that the FBI’s Virginia Homeland Security Taskforce arrested dozens of MS-13 and other gang members.
“Today the FBI’s Virginia Homeland Security Taskforce arrested 39 individuals, including MS13 and other gang members, as part of our mission to secure the border and enforce immigration laws. Thank you to all our partners bravely doing their jobs and executing the mission,” Patel wrote.
On Monday, the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the arrest of a high-ranking MS-13 leader who controlled gang activities in the United States, Mexico, and Europe.
When officers arrested David Alejandro Orellana-Aleman, 27, on February 27 in Hyattsville, Maryland, they caught an illegal alien from El Salvador who was charged in his home country with having a gun, extortion, and supporting terrorism.
For many years, Orellana was the top leader of the international terrorist group MS-13 and was in charge of MS-13 groups in the US, Mexico, and Europe.