FBI Arrested 6 of ‘Ten Most Wanted’ Fugitives In Trump’s First Year

FBI Director Kash Patel is touting what he calls a historic turnaround at the bureau during his first year leading federal law enforcement, pointing to a surge in high-profile fugitive arrests and sweeping gang crackdowns as evidence that the agency is back to focusing on crime—not politics.

During an appearance on Hannity with host Sean Hannity, Patel highlighted that the FBI has captured six fugitives from its Ten Most Wanted list in just one year. Hannity contrasted that with the prior administration, which apprehended only four fugitives from the list over a four-year span.

Patel framed the difference as more than statistical.

“The simple juxtaposition is that there was a weaponized bureau, a politicized bureau to go after political targets including President Trump and myself, versus the bureau of today that goes based on law and facts and works with our prosecutors,” Patel said.

According to Patel, the bureau has reassigned roughly 1,000 additional agents into the field, concentrating resources on violent crime and fugitive apprehension.

“These agents are working around the clock and around the world to bring justice,” Patel said.

“That is why you see these record numbers. Six top 10 captures in one year, which has never been done before, and we’re just getting started,” he added.

International Manhunt Ends in Capture

The FBI’s latest milestone followed the January arrest of Ten Most Wanted fugitive Alejandro Rosales Castillo.

Patel joined FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Estella D. Patterson to announce Castillo’s return to Charlotte, North Carolina, after his capture in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico, on Jan. 16, 2026.

The FBI said its Legal Attaché Office in Mexico City coordinated with Agencia de Investigación Criminal-INTERPOL and Mexico’s Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana to secure Castillo’s arrest and transfer to U.S. authorities.

Castillo had been on the Ten Most Wanted list since Oct. 24, 2017. He is accused in the 2016 murder of 23-year-old Truc Quan Sandy Ly Le, whose body was discovered in a wooded area of Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

State prosecutors in Mecklenburg County filed charges in November 2016, including first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and larceny of a motor vehicle. A federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution followed in February 2017.

“Alejandro Castillo is one of six Ten Most Wanted fugitives apprehended under this FBI in less than one year,” Patel said in a statement.

He credited President Donald J. Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and international law enforcement partners for the successful operation, describing it as a model of cross-border cooperation.

Sweeping Gang Crackdown: “Operation Broken Crown”

Patel’s first year has also been marked by aggressive action against organized crime. In late January, the FBI announced that nearly 50 members and associates of the Latin Kings had been arrested in a sweeping multistate operation aimed at dismantling gang infrastructure tied to drugs, firearms, and violence.

The effort—dubbed “Operation Broken Crown”—spanned more than a dozen FBI field offices and involved coordination with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies over a three-month period beginning in October 2025.

Officials said agents seized more than a dozen firearms, nearly $200,000 in illicit proceeds, and over 10 kilograms of cocaine, fentanyl, and other narcotics.

“Under President Trump’s and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, this FBI is dismantling violent gang networks in America at a record clip — breaking their operations and saving lives in the process,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News.

“In 2025 we saw a 210% increase in gang takedowns from MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, and now just weeks in to 2026, we’re announcing another 3 month takedown operation,” he continued.

Patel added that the bureau “will continue working 24/7 to crush violent crime and eliminate networks facilitating harm on the American people.”

Among those arrested were alleged gang members charged with federal firearm and narcotics offenses. In some instances, suspects were also charged in separate cases, including federal complaints connected to the theft of a rifle from an FBI vehicle during a prior enforcement action.

Additional arrests in the Milwaukee area led to the seizure of more weapons and cash after law enforcement executed search warrants targeting suspected gang-affiliated drug trafficking operations.

Federal officials describe the Latin Kings as one of the largest and most entrenched street gangs operating across multiple states. The coordinated arrests, they argue, represent a decisive effort to disrupt organized criminal networks and restore safety in communities long plagued by gang violence.

For Patel, the message is clear: the bureau’s mission has shifted from internal politics to public safety. With record fugitive captures and major gang takedowns already on the books, he says the FBI is only just beginning its renewed focus on law, order, and accountability.