More than 25 Tren de Aragua gang members have been arrested and many other criminals have been brought to justice, FBI Director Kash Patel said during a weekly agency update.
Speaking at the FBI’s Wall of Honor during National Police Week, Patel highlighted the work the FBI and other agency partners have done to keep Americans safe. One of the biggest accomplishments is the arrest of over two dozen Tren de Aragua gang members as part of Joint Task Force Vulcan. As a result of that operation, they also seized “80 firearms, 18 kilos of narcotics, and more than $100,000 dollars in cash as we worked to crush this terrorist-designated organization.”
FBI Houston also “extradited Jose Enrique Martinez Flores – the highest-ranking member of Tren de Aragua ever brought to justice,” Patel said.
Individuals associated with crimes related to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have also been brought to justice. Because of the work of FBI Los Angeles, the mayor of Arcadia, California, Eileen Wang, was “federally charged with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China [PRC].”
“She worked to promote pro-PRC propaganda and influence activities in our country,” Patel said.
As Breitbart News detailed:
The plea deal further stated that Wang’s spymaster had ordered the website [one that she worked on with the PRC to spread propaganda] to publish an essay dismissing accusations of genocide and forced labor in the Xinjiang region.
“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” the spymaster wrote, per the plea agreement.
When Wang followed through with the order, the master wrote back, “So fast, thank you everyone.”
Several other FBI divisions saw major victories as well. As a result of the work of FBI San Diego, “a citizen of the Philippines admitted to participating in a nationwide $48 million dollar publishing scam that targeted hundreds of victims, many of them senior citizens.”
“FBI Baltimore announced criminal charges against two foreign operators and the technical superintendent of the 900-foot ship that crashed into the Key Bridge in 2024, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers,” Patel said. “And thanks to FBI Boston, two men were charged with interstate kidnapping after they abducted a woman, transported her across state lines, and held her for ransom.”
The FBI’s efforts have also resulted in a safer America for children across the country. A former Navy officer pleaded guilty to “attempting to lure a minor online into sexual activity and possessing hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse,” thanks to FBI New York.
“Thanks to FBI Seattle, a defendant was sentenced to 25 years for soliciting sex online by responding to babysitting ads posted by minors,” Patel continued. “And thanks to FBI Albany’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, a Pennsylvania man got an 80-year sentence for abusing and exploiting multiple child victims across several states, including two toddlers.”
The FBI head issued a special thanks to authorities on the front lines, serving their communities every day.
“The work you and your law enforcement colleagues do truly changes lives … and it’s delivering the safest America we’ve seen in decades,” he added.
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