WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed during an interview with Laura Ingraham on The Ingraham Angle on Thursday that an alleged high-ranking member of the violent Venezuelan gang MS-13 was arrested earlier that day in Virginia. The illegal immigrant from El Salvador identified as 24-year-old Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, was reportedly recruited into the gang in middle school.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump Administration via Executive Order in January.
Speaking with Ingraham on Fox News, the Attorney General described Santos as the “worst of the worst” of MS-13 members, telling her, "He has been in the United States for probably over a decade. But we believe he was recruited in middle school. In middle school. Can you believe that? In middle school, but he’s been living here illegally with friends and family. And the Biden Administration did absolutely nothing to deport these people."
“You know, as [President Trump] says, we didn’t need new laws, we needed a new president to fix this,” Bondi added.
Santos was arrested hiding out at his mother’s home in Woodbridge, VA, according to The New York Post. Authorities revealed that the young terrorist leader was in possession of a significant cache of weapons stored in his bedroom and his mother’s garage when he was arrested, including a compact Taurus G2c pistol as well as at least three AR-style rifles with suppressors.
The AG went on to explain that Santos was arrested on an outstanding immigration warrant and charged with illegal firearm possession, per the Associated Press. The arrest was made by a task force that included federal agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in addition to local agencies.
"He was one of the top leaders, and he was living half an hour from where we're sitting right now, living among us," Bondi said. "We took one of the worst of the worst off the streets today. Americans are safer because of Donald Trump."
According to Bondi, the Department of Justice plans to seek deportation for Santos, who she identified as one of only three top-level leaders of MS-13, to the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, a maximum-security mega-prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador under an agreement between the Salvadorean government of President Nayib Bukele and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump Administration via Executive Order in January.
Speaking with Ingraham on Fox News, the Attorney General described Santos as the “worst of the worst” of MS-13 members, telling her, "He has been in the United States for probably over a decade. But we believe he was recruited in middle school. In middle school. Can you believe that? In middle school, but he’s been living here illegally with friends and family. And the Biden Administration did absolutely nothing to deport these people."
“You know, as [President Trump] says, we didn’t need new laws, we needed a new president to fix this,” Bondi added.
Santos was arrested hiding out at his mother’s home in Woodbridge, VA, according to The New York Post. Authorities revealed that the young terrorist leader was in possession of a significant cache of weapons stored in his bedroom and his mother’s garage when he was arrested, including a compact Taurus G2c pistol as well as at least three AR-style rifles with suppressors.
The AG went on to explain that Santos was arrested on an outstanding immigration warrant and charged with illegal firearm possession, per the Associated Press. The arrest was made by a task force that included federal agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in addition to local agencies.
"He was one of the top leaders, and he was living half an hour from where we're sitting right now, living among us," Bondi said. "We took one of the worst of the worst off the streets today. Americans are safer because of Donald Trump."
According to Bondi, the Department of Justice plans to seek deportation for Santos, who she identified as one of only three top-level leaders of MS-13, to the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, a maximum-security mega-prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador under an agreement between the Salvadorean government of President Nayib Bukele and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
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