Federal prosecutors are attempting to dismiss terrorism charges against a high-ranking MS-13 leader in what appears to be part of a secretive agreement between President Trump and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. The case has exposed a tangled web of gang politics, prison deals, and alleged government corruption spanning two countries.
Vladimir Antonio Arevalo-Chavez isn’t just any gang member. As part of MS-13’s “Ranfla Nacional” leadership council, he faces serious federal charges including racketeering and terrorism. More importantly, according to court documents unsealed this week, he possesses explosive information about a 2019 agreement between Bukele’s government and MS-13 leadership.
That deal allegedly involved the Salvadoran government providing financial incentives and territorial concessions to the notorious gang. In exchange, MS-13 would reduce violence in El Salvador and mobilize support for Bukele’s political party in the 2021 elections. The pact reportedly collapsed in 2022, leading to Bukele’s widely publicized crackdown on gangs.
The Justice Department’s filing reveals the political calculations behind the move, citing “sensitive and important foreign policy considerations” as justification for the unusual dismissal. Critics see a more sinister motive: preventing damaging testimony about a U.S. ally.
“This is collusion between two governments to cover up a gang pact by dropping charges on known gangsters,” said political science professor Michael Ahn Paarlberg. “The irony is both of them claim to be tough on crime.”
The deportation connects to a broader agreement allowing the U.S. to house immigrants in El Salvador’s maximum-security Cecot prison. In March, another MS-13 leader with similar knowledge, Cesar Humberto López-Larios, had his charges dismissed before being sent to El Salvador.