FBI Director Kash Patel stated during a weekly agency update that over 25 members of the brutal Tren de Aragua gang have been arrested, along with many other criminals, since President Donald Trump kicked off his immigration enforcement push at the beginning of his second term in the White House. Patel, speaking at the FBI’s Wall of Honor during National Police Week, shined a spotlight on the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies that protect Americans.
One of the biggest accomplishments he mentioned during his address was the arrest of over two dozen Tren de Aragua gang members as part of an operation known as Joint Task Force Vulcan. Thanks to that effort, the FBI seized “80 firearms, 18 kilos of narcotics, and more than $100,000 in cash as we worked to crush this terrorist-designated organization.”
FBI Houston also revealed that they “extradited Jose Enrique Martinez Flores – the highest-ranking member of Tren de Aragua ever brought to justice,” Patel stated. Federal authorities also brought to justice a number of folks involved with crimes connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Work completed by FBI Los Angeles led to the mayor of Arcadia, California, Eileen Wong, being “federally charged with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China [PRC].”
According to a report from Breitbart News, Patel said, “She worked to promote pro-PRC propaganda and influence activities in our country.” A previous report from the outlet revealed, “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 went on to write, per the plea agreement. When Wang quickly obeyed the order, the master replied, “So fast, thank you everyone.”
It was also noted during the event that several other FBI divisions experienced significant wins as well. The stellar work performed by FBI San Diego led to “a citizen of the Philippines admitted to participating in a nationwide $48 million 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 went on to say in his speech. “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.”
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The bureau has also made America safer for children by busting a number of individuals involved in child sex trafficking and child pornography. A former officer with the U.S. Navy was arrested and 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 Seattle, a defendant was sentenced to 25 years for soliciting sex online by responding to babysitting ads posted by minors,” Patel added. “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.”