DOJ moves to drop charge against top MS-13 leader who was busted in major Virginia operation
The Justice Department dropped charges against “one of the top” MS-13 leaders living in the United States illegally as prosecutors seek to deport the El Salvador native — two weeks after he was busted in a major operation.
Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos was nabbed on weapons charges during an early morning raid at his mom’s Virginia home, 23 miles outside the nation’s capital, in March.
Attorney General Pam Bondi moved to dismiss the charges against Villatoro Santos, who “will now face the removal process,” according to a one-page court brief filed Wednesday evening.
Bondi is seeking to fast-track Villatoro Santos’ deportation, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources.
Villatoro Santos’ lawyer, Muhammad Elsayed, argued for the government’s motion to be delayed for two weeks out of fear that the 24-year-old gangbanger would be quickly deported and unlawfully sent to a prison in El Salvador.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice, indicating prosecutors can charge Villatoro Santos again.
Villatoro Santos was captured during a joint operation involving the FBI, ICE, ATF, the Virginia State Police and the Prince William County Police Department on March 27.
FBI agents stormed Villatoro Santos’ mother’s home in Woodbridge, Virginia, breaching the front and back doors to gain entry while executing a search warrant.
Villatoro Santos was found hiding in an alcove leading to the garage of the home and ducked behind a small wall out of view of the agents.
A stun grenade was used to capture Villatoro Santos, who had refused to follow authorities’ commands.
A trove of weapons was discovered inside the home, including a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun, three additional firearms, ammunition and two silencers.
Prosecutors presented Villatoro Santos’ mother with the search warrant that listed the weapons along with a letter from a jail outlining inmate “cliques” and immigration documents, NBC Washington reported.
Bondi touted the high-profile arrest and assured that Villatoro Santos wouldn’t be staying in the country much longer.
“Make no mistake — he was one of the top leaders, heading up all MS-13 violent crimes on the East Coast. He was responsible for heinous acts, and he should never have been in this country,” Bondi said.
“America is safer today because one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13 is off the streets,” she added.
Villatoro Santos is believed to have been recruited into the violent gang as a middle school student.
The 24-year-old was charged with possession of a firearm by a person in the country illegally.
He was one of nearly 350 illegal migrant criminals snatched by a new FBI task force in March.
“In less than a month, we have arrested 340 suspects,” said Erik Siebert, interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “To the criminals, all I have to say is, ‘We’re coming.’”
MS-13, founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization alongside Tren de Aragua by President Trump.
The vicious gang has been responsible for a series of high-profile killings, kidnappings, and drug-related crimes across the US, including in and around Washington, DC, California and on Long Island.
With Post wires
