Kash Patel, FBI tout $5M reward for capturing MS-13 ‘terrorist leader’ unleashing evil on Americans

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Dem lawmakers travel to El Salvador, demand proof of life for suspected MS-13 member

Maryland State Delegate Kathy Szeliga joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the trips taken by Democratic lawmakers to El Salvador, where they’re calling for the release of a suspected MS-13 gang member deported from the U.S.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reminded the public on Monday that a $5 million bounty is still available to anyone who assists the federal government in capturing one of the most brutal MS-13 gangsters in the world. 

Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, also known as “Alexander Mendoza” and “Porky,” 43, is said to be the Honduran kingpin of the ultra-violent Central American gang. The Trump administration has made its MS-13 crackdown one of its top priorities, and has designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. 

“This terrorist leader can no longer be allowed to live free as MS-13’s evil devastates communities in America and throughout the western hemisphere,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “If you can contribute information leading to his arrest – come forward now.”

Honduran MS-13 gang leader Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías (FBI)

TOP MS-13 LEADER ARRESTED IN VIRGINIA

Archaga Carías is already on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for a litany of alleged crimes, including drug trafficking, gunrunning, money laundering, murder and ordering the killings of rival gang members. 

“As the alleged leader of MS-13 for all of Honduras, Archaga Carías allegedly controlled MS-13 criminal activity in Honduras and provided support and resources to the MS-13 enterprise in Central America and the United States with firearms, narcotics, and cash,” according to the FBI. 

The FBI is asking for the public’s help capturing MS-13 leader Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias. (FBI)

“Archaga Carias is also allegedly responsible for supporting multi-ton loads of cocaine through Honduras to the United States and for ordering and participating in murders of rival gang members and others associated with MS-13,” the FBI says. 

FBI Director Kash Patel promised that Archaga Carías will be brought to justice. 

“Dismantling and ultimately eliminating MS-13 continues to be one of the FBI’s highest priorities, and we’re not stopping until that mission is complete,” he said. “Alongside our dedicated law enforcement partners, the FBI will find Archaga Carías – a terrorist whose reign of terror at the helm of MS-13 is coming to an end.”

MS-13 gang members wait to be escorted upon their arrival at the maximum-security jail in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, June 22, 2017. (Reuters/Jose Cabezas)

MARYLAND SHERIFF INFURIATED BY SENATOR’S TRIP TO VISIT MS-13 SUSPECT, SILENCE ON LOCAL MURDER VICTIMS

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS. 

MS-13 is a predominantly Salvadoran gang, but operates in many Central American countries and in the United States. The criminal enterprise terrorized El Salvador before the country’s current president, Nayib Bukele, put more than 80,000 suspected MS-13 members behind bars in megaprisons called “Terrorism Confinement Centers.” 

FBI Director Kash Patel vowed to capture Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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In the United States, the gang has recently been in the news after one alleged member, illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported to El Salvador. 

He was suspected of being involved in labor/human trafficking, according to a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) report obtained by Fox News.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf and David Spunt contributed to this report.

Peter D’Abrosca joined Fox News Digital in 2025 after four years as a politics reporter at The Tennessee Star. 

He grew up in Rhode Island and is a graduate of Elon University. 

Follow Peter on X at @pmd_reports. Send story tips to peter.dabrosca@fox.com.