Top East Coast MS-13 Leader Arrested in Virginia, Officials Say

The East Coast leader of MS-13 was arrested on March 27 in Virginia in a joint federal and state operation involving more than a dozen law enforcement agencies.

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks about an MS-13 gang leader who was arrested in an operation by the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force in Dale City, Va., on March 27, 2025, during a news conference at the Manassas FBI Field Office in Manassas, Va., on March 27, 2025. Rod Lamkey/AP Photo

A senior leader of the violent transnational gang MS-13 was arrested on March 27 during a coordinated law enforcement operation in Dale City, Virginia, top officials announced in a news conference.

Authorities described the suspect as one of the top three MS-13 operatives in the United States and the gang’s East Coast leader. He is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador and is currently in custody, Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a news conference held later in the morning.

“This morning, early this morning, one of the top leaders of MS-13 was apprehended,” Bondi said. “He was the leader for the East Coast, one of the top three in the entire country, right here in Virginia, living half an hour outside of Washington, D.C. He is an illegal alien from El Salvador, and he will not be living in our country much longer.”

MS-13, or La Mara Salvatrucha, is a transnational criminal gang with its membership base largely composed of individuals from El Salvador or their descendants. The gang, which has ties to the Mexican Mafia prison gang, is known for violent crimes and operates in more than 40 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

President Donald Trump wrote a post on social media congratulating Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, border czar Tom Homan, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and calling the operation “a big deal.”

During the news conference, Patel said: “We have a woman or child being raped every six and a half minutes in this country. We have a homicide twice an hour. No part of that metric is a safe and secure America, but thanks to the brave leadership of this administration and the folks that you see here, we are returning our communities to safety.

“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops. And we’re going to continue to let good cops be cops across this country.”

According to officials, the arrest was carried out by a task force created earlier in March under the Trump administration’s directive to target violent transnational gangs. The multi-agency team includes federal, state, and local personnel.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised the operation. “Over the last four weeks, 340 horrific criminals have been arrested here in Northern Virginia,” he said.

Youngkin said the suspect was found in Prince William County.

“It was one of the top leaders of MS-13 living here, an illegal immigrant, and that illegal immigrant’s going to go back to where he came from,” he said.

The task force, which launched operations on March 3, has identified 575 targets and arrested 342 individuals to date, according to Erik Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Of those, 81 have known gang or transnational crime affiliations.

“We do not plan on stopping until every one of these violent gang members is off the streets,” Siebert said.

Bondi said the gang leader was recruited at a young age and oversaw violent crimes.

“He was one of the top members, top three in the entire country, head of the East Coast, one of the three leaders, and I will say, very violent crimes. Very—anything you can associate with MS-13, he was the leader over it, all of the violent crimes,” she said.

Officials said the suspect’s name was being withheld for now because of operational considerations.