A joint operation involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Virginia State Police (VSP) led to the arrest of a confirmed MS-13 gang member wanted in El Salvador for extortion, blackmail, and terrorist association. The suspect, Silvia Lorena Bonilla-De Jandres, a 40-year-old illegal Salvadoran national, was taken into custody in Alexandria, Virginia, on February 25.
The arrest, as stated in a Monday, April 7, 2025, press release by ICE, was the result of combined efforts involving ICE’s Washington, D.C. field office, FBI and DEA agents from their Washington, D.C. field offices, and VSP officials. The capture of Bonilla is a significant victory in the fight against transnational criminal organizations in the United States.
“Silvia Lorena Bonilla-De Jandres is not only a member of a transnational criminal enterprise known for violence, she has also apparently attempted to flee justice in her home country and hide out in Northern Virginia,” said Russ Hott, Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Washington, D.C., as quoted in the ICE statement. “We will not allow our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities to become safe havens for the world’s bad actors. ICE Washington, D.C. remains dedicated to our mission of prioritizing public safety and protecting our residents by arresting and removing illegal alien offenders.”
ICE said that Bonilla unlawfully entered the United States in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, on Feb. 21, 2016, where she was caught by U.S. Border Patrol and processed for removal.
In spite of this, she continued to stay in the country. El Salvadoran police arrested and charged her on August 28, 2017, for aggravated extortion, blackmail, and terrorist association due to her association with MS-13, a notorious street gang. A red notice for Bonilla was issued by Interpol on November 24, 2017, which made the global effort for her arrest even more pressing.
The ICE news release also said that on July 11, 2025, a Department of Justice immigration judge ordered Bonilla removed from the United States to El Salvador, paving the way for her extradition to answer the charges in her native country.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, has been extensively documented for its violent activities, including drug trafficking, extortion, and murder, in Central America and the United States. The apprehension of Bonilla underscores the ongoing challenge of confronting gang-related crime and the value of interagency collaboration in pursuing individuals who utilize immigration processes to evade justice. ICE cited its dedication to public safety and pledged to persist in targeting and removing criminal aliens that endanger American communities. The case of Bonilla serves to underscore the intersection of immigration enforcement and the broader effort to break up organized crime rings with international tentacles.
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