OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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.
“The apprehension of David Alejandro Orellana-Aleman strikes a significant blow to the leadership and organization of the MS-13 terrorist organization,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations acting Field Office Director Matthew Elliston. “This arrest speaks volumes about the cooperation enjoyed between ICE and the FBI. We will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing illegal alien offenders from our communities.”
“Maryland is immediately safer because of this arrest. Working together, we took custody of one of the highest-ranking gang members in the United States,” said FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno. “David Alejandro Orellana-Aleman is no longer in his alleged position of power directing violence. His arrest demonstrates the success we can have when we collectively investigate and disrupt violent criminals seeking to exploit our communities.”
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. pic.twitter.com/n5qz55CbRE
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 4, 2025
Orellana was arrested in El Salvador on December 1, 2016, and charged with having a gun, extortion, and being a member of MS-13, which is a terrorist group.
Orellana came into the U.S. illegally on an unknown date and in an unknown place, without being checked out, admitted, or given parole by a U.S. immigration official.
A police officer in Prince George’s County caught Orellana driving without a license on December 9, 2024. Orellana is still being held by ICE after being arrested.
Patel made headlines earlier this week when he proposed strengthening the FBI’s ranks with assistance from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
According to sources familiar with Patel’s proposal, the initiative involves collaboration with the martial arts entertainment giant, whose CEO, Dana White, was a key supporter of President Donald Trump’s reelection, ABC News reported.
During a teleconference Wednesday with the leaders of the FBI’s 55 field offices, Patel suggested establishing a formal partnership with the UFC to develop fitness programs aimed at enhancing agents’ physical conditioning, sources briefed on the call said.
The weekly virtual meeting with special agents in charge of each field office has been a longstanding tradition, but this marked the first call led by Patel since he was sworn in as director on Friday.
Within hours of the Wednesday call, news of Patel’s UFC proposal spread to current and former FBI officials across the country, with some embracing it.
“If they’re trying to up their physical fitness, the UFC is very specific in their fitness,” ABC News contributor Rich Frankel, the former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, office, told the network.