Federal authorities in the United States have arrested Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, a top leader of the Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13.
The 24-year-old Salvadoran national, who led the gang on the U.S. East Coast, was captured in Woodbridge, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C.
Santos is charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms, as shown in photos taken during the raid on Thursday.
According to court documents, agents found a 9mm handgun, along with three other firearms, ammunition, and two suppressors in his bedroom.
The affidavit also disclosed that officers deployed a stun grenade when Villatoro failed to comply with orders to exit the apartment.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche monitored the arrest from a nearby tactical centre.
Bondi said the capture was executed in a “clean” and “safe” manner, describing Santos as “one of the worst of the worst of MS-13.”
The Attorney General added that Santos was “responsible for heinous acts, and he should never have been in this country.”
“He was the leader for the East Coast, one of the top three in the entire country,” she said. “He will not be living in our country much longer.”
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,”; Patel asserted at a press conference in Manassas, Virginia.
The FBI operation included the Prince William County Police Department, the Virginia State Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants and has been involved in high-profile killings, kidnappings, and drug-related crimes across America.
